






\ '^ -ir^ 





The Book of the First 
American Chess Congress, 

NEW YORK, 1857. 




BittlAA- Cailet«v»i, i:i( 



The Book of the First | 

/ 

American Chess Congress : 



CONTAINING THE PROCEEDINGS OF THAT CELEBRATED ASSEMBLAGE, HELD 
IN NEW YORK, IN THE YEAR I 857, WITH THE PAPERS READ IN ITS 
SESSIONS, THE GAMES PLAYED IN THE GRAND TOXiRNAMENT, 
AND THE STRATAGEMS ENTERED IN THE PROBLEM TOUR- 
NAY ; TOGETHER WITH SKETCHES OF THE HISTORY 
OF CHESS IN THE OLD AND NEW WORLDS. 



BY 

DANIEL WILLARD FISKE, M.A. 






New York: 

RuDD & Carleton, 130 Grand Street, 

(brooks BUILDING, COR. OF BROADWAY.) 

MDCCCLIX. 



,P5 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1859, by 

RUDD & CARLETON, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
District of New York. 



R. CRAIGHEAD, 

Stereoiyper and Electrotyper, 

daxton ISuiltiintj, 

81, 83, aiid 85 Centre Street. 



To Paul Morphy, 



THE HERO OF THAT AMERICAN TOURNAMENT WHOSE STORY IS HERE 

TOLD, AND THE CONQUEROR UPON THE TRADITIONARY BATTLE 

FIELDS OF EUROPE, I DEDICATE THIS BOOK WITH EVERY 

SENTIMENT OF ESTEEM AND FRIENDSHIP. 



Preface . 



The long delay which has occurred in the publication of 
this volume arises from two causes : — In the first place, graver 
avocations permitted me to devote but a small portion of my 
leisure to its compilation ; in the second place, the work 
has gradually grown upon my hands until its size, as origi- 
nally contemplated, has been more than doubled. This latter 
fact has, as I am aware, led to a somewhat unmethodical 
arrangement of the material ; but as the increase in bulk is 
mainly owing to the length of the chapter on American Chess 
history, I could not find it in my heart to omit any incident, 
however trifling, which might throw a ray of light upon that 
hitherto obscure subject. And yet this part of my task is far 
from being thoroughly performed. Persevering efibrts, which 
I had no time to make, might have considerably enlarged the 
chapter ; and I hope that the labors of those who may be 
selected to compile the reports of future Congresses will finish 
the work which I have only been able to commence. 



viii Preface. 

To Mr. Geokge Allen, Greek Professor in the University 
of Pennsylvania, I am indebted not only for the pleasant nar- 
rative of the Automaton Chess-player's American career and 
for the account of Chess in Philadelphia— which cover, in 
fact, the most original and interesting pages of the book — 
but for much useful counsel and assistance during the pro- 
gress of the work. To the obliging researches of Mr. Wil- 
liam H. Kent, of Boston, I owe the Life of Benjamin Lynde 
Oliver, and the very full sketch of Chess in the capital of New 
England. Mr. Eugene B. Cook, of Hoboken, has, at my 
request, selected and arranged the problems composing the 
eighth chapter, with a skill and care which he alone pos- 
sesses, and has contributed the beautiful and elaborate posi- 
tion which forms the frontispiece. To my kind and distin- 
guished friend, Mr. Paul Morphy, the reader is under obliga- 
tions for comments to several of the games in the Grand 
Tournament. Mr. J. Lowenthal, of London, with his cus- 
tomary courtesy, contributed the narrative of his sojourn in 
this country. In writing the diary of proceedings in the 
third chapter, I found myself greatly aided by the daily 
reports in the New York journals, and chiefly by those from 
the pen of Mr. Frederick M. Edge, who performed the duties 
of an assistant Secretary to the Congress with zeal and assi- 
duity. Mr. H. R. Agnel, Professor of French and Spanish in 
the United States Military Academy at West Point, Mr. 
Charles A. Maurian of New Orleans, and many other corre- 
spondents have given me information more or less important 
in reference to the Chess events of the past. And in the first 



Preface. ix 

chapter I have drawn largely from the published writings of 
Dr. Duncan Forbes, of King's College, London, one of the 
first orientalists and most ardent Chess enthusiasts of the 
age. 

A few articles in the book were written by me for the 
Chess Monthly^ in which periodical they have previously 
appeared. 

D. W. F. 

Nbw Tork, Augmt, 1869. 



Table of Contents. 



PAGE 

Preface V 

CHAPTER I. 

Introductory Sketch of the History of Chess 13 

CHAPTER 11. 

Causes which led to the holding of an American Congress — Preliminary 

Proceedings 49 

CHAPTER III. 

The Period of the Congress 66 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Dinner of the Congress 96 

CHAPTER Y. 

Reports and Communications Ill 

Keport of the Committee on the Chess Code Ill 

Report of the Committee on a National Association 123 

Communication from Mr. J. Lowenthal 125 

Comunication on the Subject of a Mechanical Chess Recorder 135 

New Systems of Chess Notation 137 



xii Contents. 

PAGK 

CHAPTER VI. 

Games in the Grand Tournament 14t 

CHAPTER YII. 

Chess without the Chessboard 261 

CHAPTER yilL 

The Problem Tournay 2tl 

CHAPTER IX. 

Incidents in the History of American Chess 330 

I. The Chess Life of Benjamin Franklin 331 

II. Lewis Ron 840 

III. Aaron Burr and Chess 846 

IV. Chess in Philadelphia 348 

V. Chess in Boston 866 

VI. Benjamin Lynde Olirer 885 

VII. Lowenthal's Visit to America 889 

VIIL Chess in New York 896 

IX. Chess in New Orleans 415 

X. The History of the Automaton Chess-player in America 420 

XI. American Chess Bibliography 485 

XIL Paul Morphy 503 

XIII. Miscellanea and Addenda 532 

CHAPTER X. 

List of Subscribers — Accounts — Solutions — Indexes 536 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF 

CHESS. 

Chess, the most venerable for its antiquity, the most 
esteemed for its intellectual character, and the most universal 
in its extent of all those pastimes in which men of every age 
have been accustomed to seek rest from the fatigue of physical 
labor or the weariness of mental toil, arose in India at a very 
early period in the history of the world. It is distinguished 
from all other sports no less by its greater age than by its 
superior excellence ; for, although an amusement, it is separated 
from the most abstruse of sciences only by a faint line of de- 
marcation. The singular fascination which it has ever exer- 
cised over its votaries is a curious phenomenon in the history 
of mind. Men differing in character and disposition, in tastes 
and pursuits, in rank and religion, in climate and race, have 
been charmed by the study of its delightful arcana. The 
peasants of Persia and Iceland, the warriors of the East and 
the West, the scholars of Asia and Europe, the priests of the 
Moslem faith, and the ministers of a purer belief, the monarchs 
of enlightened nations and the rulers of Pagan lands, have all 
found entertainment in its study and pleasure in its practice. 
Kings, in imminent danger of losing their heads and their 
thrones, have clung to their game of chess undismayed by the 
threatened loss of honor and of life. Statesmen, at a time 
when their brains were busy with projects destined to result 
in the overthrow of kingdoms or the emancipation of nations, 



14 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

have found leisure to engage in chess. Generals, on the eve 
of important and decisive battles, as if in mockery of real and 
sanguinary warfare, have thrown their whole souls into a 
bloodless contest on the checkered field. Sages have sanctioned 
its use as a recreation. Learned men have devoted the earnest 
efibrts of acute minds to the elucidation of its theory, to the 
elaboration of its history, and to the enlargement of its litera- 
ture. The graces of poetry and the charms of eloquence have 
been thrown around it. Orators in their speeches, poets in 
their songs, dramatists in their plays, annalists in their histories, 
and even divines in their sermons, have not hesitated to use 
expressions couched in its technical language and to employ 
metaphors drawn from the movements of its mimic soldiery. 
As in the multiplicity of its combinations it sets at defiance 
all the discovered laws of the science of numbers, so in its 
adaptability to minds of unlike formation it seems to repudiate 
all the theories ot mental philosophy. ^^ For eminent skill in 
the game is neither limited to any particular class of individuals 
nor dependent upon any peculiar intellectual qualities. Its 
pursuit is not confined to highly cultivated minds. Eulers and 
Rousseaus have striven in vain to become practitioners of the 
first class, while Grecos and Mourets have risen to the highest 
rank. Almost every profession has furnished its quota of names 
illustrious in chess. Damiano was an apothecary, Lopez was 
a priest, Salvio was a lawyer, Philidor was a musician, Cunning- 
ham was a diplomatist, Stamma was a linguist, Atwood was a 
mathematician, Deschapelles was a soldier, Popert was a mer- 
chant. Tyros scarcely conversant with the moves appear to find 
in it ail enjoyment no less keen and exciting than those great 
players who are familiar with all the mysteries of open games 
and of close games, of gambits and of counter-gambits, of 
openings on the king's side and of openings on the queen's 
side. In truth, however we look at it, at its nature, or at its 
history, Ave shall find anomalies that surprise and marvels that 
confound us. I propose to give a brief sketch of the rise and 
progress of this most singular emanation of the human mind — • 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 15 

this most remarkable conception of human genius. Trifling 
as is the place usually assigned to it in the economy of the 
world, it is, nevertheless, a theme bountiful of incident and 
prolific of interest. In the little space at my command it 
would be impossible to narrate its story in detail or to relate 
a tithe of those poetical fables, those noteworthy legends, 
those diverting anecdotes, wliich cluster as things of memorable 
beauty about its fifty centuries of existence. All that I can 
hope to do will be to present the reader with a sort of skeleton 
chronicle, whose dry bones he must clothe with the flesh and 
blood of his own imagination, and animate with the breath of 
his own fancy. 

The date to which I have referred the origin of chess will 
probably astonish those persons who have only regarded it as 
the amusement of idle hours, and have never troubled them- 
selves to peruse those able essays in which the best of antiqua- 
ries and investigators have dissipated the cloudy obscurity 
that once enshrouded this subject. Those who do not know 
the inherent life which it possesses will wonder at its long and 
enduring career. They will be startled to learn that chess 
was played before Columbus discovered America, before 
Charlemagne revived the Western Empire, before Romulus 
founded Rome, before Achilles went up to the siege of Troy, 
and that it is still played as widely and as zealously as ever, 
now that those events have been for ages a part of history. 
It will be diflicult for them to comprehend how, amid the 
WTCck of nations, the destruction of races, the revolutions of 
time, and the lapse of centuries, this mere game has survived, 
when so many things of far greater importance have either 
passed away from the memories of men, or still exist only in 
the dusty pages of the chroniclers. It owes, of course, much 
of its tenacity of existence to the amazing inexhaustibility of 
its nature. Some chess writers have loved to dwell upon the 
unending fertility of its powers of combination. They have 
calculated by arithmetical rules the myriads of positions of 
wliich the pieces and pawns are susceptible. They have told 



i6 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

us tliat a lifetime of many ages would hardly suffice even to 
count them. We know, too, that while the composers of the 
Orient and the Occident have displayed during long centu- 
ries an admirable subtlety and ingenuity in the fabrication of 
problems, yet the chess stratagems of the last quarter of a 
century have never been excelled in intricacy and beauty. 
We have witnessed, in our day, contests brilliant with skilful 
manoeuvres unknown to the sagacious and dexterous chess 
artists of the eighteenth century. Within the last thirty 
years we have seen the invention of an opening as correct in 
theory and as elegant in practice as any upon the board, and 
of which our fathers were utterly ignorant. The world is not 
likely to tire of an amusement which never repeats itself, of 
a game which presents to-day features as novel and charms 
as fresh as those with which it delighted, in the morning of 
history, the dwellers on the banks of the Ganges and the 
Indus. 

Sir William Jones has given it as his opinion that the beau- 
tiful simplicity and extreme perfection of the game, prove it 
to have been the invention of a single mind. Later writers 
have rejected this hypothesis. In sooth, it seems incredible 
that any one man, by his own unaided brain, should have 
produced in its present symmetrical completeness, a thing at 
once so complex in detail, yet so simple as a whole. Who 
could estimate the mental strength of such a being ? Would 
he not be a commander greater than Caesar, who first calcu- 
lated the exact evolutions, the marches and counter-marches, 
the fierce attacks and cunning defences of the chess-men? 
Would he not be a philosopher greater than Bacon, who con- 
structed a theoretical art which should approach so near the 
domains of science, and yet not overlie the boundaries? 
Would he not be an artist greater than Phidias, who should 
design representative images which should last through all 
changes while the world stood ? Would he not be a bene- 
fixctor greater than Howard, who should devise an amusement 
that should refresh the faculties while it still kept them in 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 17 

action, and upon which the spirit of gambling would never 
dare to seize ? It seems to me that no such being has ever 
existed. It seems to me that chess grew, as music grew, as 
poetry grew. I believe that it sprang from rude beginnings, 
and gradually threw off one imperfection after another, or 
added one beauty after another, until it ripened into the old 
chaturanga, which is essentially our modern game. Those 
noble rivers which bear the fruits of a thousand fields and the 
wealth of a hundred cities upon their waters, take their rise 
from numberless insignificant sources among the untrodden 
mountain tracts. A multitude of rough but instructive 
attempts preceded the successful establishment of the art of 
printing. The experiments of Franklin, of QErsted, and of 
Gauss, were the seeds which finally germinated, grew up, and 
blossomed, in the mind of Morse, into the electric telegraph. 
Countless fables, offsprings of the ardent imagination of Asia, 
or the sterner fancy of Europe, and many of them as beauti- 
ful as they are untrue, are extant, which pretend to explain 
the origin of chess. Some of the old chroniclers, who loved 
to invent history, tell us that the game was the product of the 
fertile brain of an Indian sage, named Sissa or Sassa, and 
connect therewith the famous story of the grains of corn 
which increased through the whole sixty-four squares in 
geometrical ratio. True history informs us that this Sissa 
was merely a player of more than ordinary skill. Other 
writers ascribe the invention of the game to two brothers, 
Lydus and Tyrhene, who, starving in a desert, discovered this 
excellent means of appeasing the pangs of hunger. Others 
again support the claims of an imaginary Greek philosopher, 
styled Xerxes, whose object was to convince a despot that the 
interests of the monarch were inseparably connected with 
those of his people. In fact a vast deal of erudition and an 
immense amount of imagination have been expended on this 
matter. Palamedes and Zenobia, the Chinese, Egyptians, 
Persians, Arabians, Welsh, Irish, Jews, Scythians, and Arau- 
canians, have all had their zealous and credulous advocates. 



i8 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 



The sober truth is, that a game, possessing all the essential 
features of chess, was in common use in Southern Asia some 
three thousand years before the commencement of our era, 
and that the oldest authentic books of India speak of it as a 
pastime which amused soldiers during a siege, and delighted 
princes and generals in their hours of recreation. Beyond 
this we know nothing. The names of its inventors, the pre- 
cise time and exact locality of its first appearance, are pro- 
bably problems which no study of the past, however acute 
and diligent, will ever be able to solve. 

The first great period in the history of chess stretches from 
the supposed time of its origin down to about the sixth cen- 
tury of our era, comprising a space of between three and four 
thousand years. It may be called the age of the chaturanga, 



i 



Do 



Da- 



Do 



Do 



i 




? 



<a 



OG 



<X] 



<X] 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 19 

or primeval Indian game. This game was played like ours, 
upon a board of sixty-four squares ; unlike ours, it was played 
by four persons. Each player had a king, a rook, a knight, 
and a bishop, which at that time was styled a ship, and four 
pawns. The moves of these men, with a single exception, 
were precisely the same at that remote day as they are with 
us. The bishop, or ship, instead of ranging from one angle 
of the checkered field to the other, was limited to two squares 
at a time. Two of the players (black and green) were allied 
against the other two (red and yellow). Whenever it came 
the turn of a player, he decided what man to move by the 
throw of an oblong die, marked with the numbers two, three, 
four, and five. Thus, if five were thrown, the king or one of 
the pawns was moved ; if four, the rook ; if three, the 
knight; if two, the bishop. Chess was, therefore, in its 
infancy, a game of mingled skill and hazard. It was not until 
the experience of successive generations had developed the 
resources which lay hid in those sixty-four squares and thirty- 
two figures that it became a stern mental encounter, a contest 
of mind with mind. But even this crude and simple form, of 
the game pleased the people of tropical Asia in the younger 
years of the earth's existence. Men of the highest station 
felt and confessed its enticements. In one of the very oldest 
sacred books of the Hindoos, written in the Sanscrit lan- 
guage, the most ancient of all our Indo-European tongues, 
a royal personage seeks to acquire from a wise man a know- 
ledge of chess. "- Explain to me," he says, " explain to me, 
O thou supereminent in virtue, the nature of the game that 
is ]3layed on the eight-times-eight squared board." The sage 
proceeds to give him the information he desires. He describes 
the game, and among other counsel says, '' Let each player 
preserve his own forces with excessive care, and remember 
that the king is the most important of all. O Prince, from 
inattention to the humbler forces, the King himself may fall 
into disaster." What could be better advice either for a 
chess-player or a prince ? 



20 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

During this period the game appears to have spread to the 
eastward to China, Siam, and Japan, where, in the course of 
time, it took a shape somewhat different from that which it after- 
wards assumed in Western Asia and Europe. Enough of simi- 
larity, however, still remains between these two great branches 
to prove their common origin. In the Celestial Empire the 
chief changes were a division of the board into two equal parts 
by an imaginary river, the addition of two pieces, with peculiar 
powers unknown to the Indian game, and the substitution for 
the queen of two pieces of very limited action. This latter 
alteration rendered it necessary, in order to place all the chief 
officers upon the royal or first rank, to use the intersections 
of the lines instead of the squares. The moves of the king, 
rooks, bishops, and knights, are exactly the same as in the 
chaturanga. The Siamese game very closely resembles the 
Chinese. In Japan, instead of arranging the pieces upon the 
intersections of the lines, the board was enlarged to nine 
squares on each side. We find here, however, no trace of 
the river. A portion of the men may be reversed when they 
arrive at certain squares, and thereby acquire increased 
powers, a feature resembling the queening of the pawn in our 
western game. The line of division between these two great 
chess stocks — the Indo-European and the East- Asiatic — 
seems to be very exactly defined. Eastward, along the 
southernmost portion of Asia, and throughout the islands of 
the Asiatic seas, as far as Borneo, or wherever the influence 
of India was felt, the Sanscrit form prevails. In other lands 
farther north, which received their laws and customs from 
the country of Confucius, chess, as known in China, is pre- 
dominant. Future laborers in the historical department of 
chess will find here a broad and unharvested field ready to 
reward their toil. 

The second great period of chess history begins at about the 
sixth century after Christ, and terminates with the close of 
the fifteenth. It may be properly styled the age of the shat- 
ranj or mediaeval game. There is reason to believe that long 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 



21 



before this era the use of the dice had been discarded, but now 
the game changed from a contest between four persons to a 
battle between two. The alteration was simple. The board 
and powers of the men remained as before. The bishops and 
the rooks changed places, and two of the allied forces were 
united upon one side of the board, and the other two upon 



j^^ 



# 



i 



i 



i 



the opposite side. Two of the four kings were transformed 
into viziers or counsellors, who stood, as was natural, next the 
kings. These counsellors moved one square diagonally. These 
improvements in the fundamental laws of the game were 
important, and paved the way for those later alterations 
which gave its present form to chess. The game about thi/3 
time, or during the reign of Chosroes, was introduced into 



22 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

Persia, whence it soon afterwards spread, by way of imperial 
Byzantium, into Europe. Portugal and Spain, however, if we 
may judge by the etymology of their chess nomenclature, 
received the game from the Saracens. This shatranj form of 
chess continued to form one of the favorite amusements of 
monarchs and subjects, of knights and priests, in the lands of 
Asia, Africa, and Europe, for nearly one thousand years. 

In the Eastern World numberless writers treated of its 
excellence in works full of the fantastic imagery and glowing 
with the gorgeous verbiage of the Orient. The names of Ali 
Shatranji, Adali, Suli, Damiri, Sokeiker, Abul-Abbas, Ibn- 
Sherf-Mohammed, and a hundred others, have come down to 
us as those of distinguished players and writers. Even the 
immortal Firdausi devotes a long episode, in his Persian epic, 
to chess, and the great Rhazes, one of the most famous of 
Arabian physicians, compiled a work upon the game ; and 
numerous treatises have found their way into the libraries of 
the West, whose authors are entirely unknown. ^ So far did 
the people of Persia and Arabia carry their love for the sport 
that they ascribed to it virtues almost miraculous. It was 
made to embrace all sciences. It was gravely said to teach 
religion and law, philosophy and astronomy, political economy 
and military strategy, and to be an efficacious remedy for 
diseases both of the mind and the body. " Chess," exclaims 
an enthusiastic Persian, " Chess is the nourishment of the 
mind, the solace of the spirit, the polisher of intelligence, the 
bright sun of understanding. By its practice all the faults 
which form the ailments of the soul are converted into their 
corresponding virtues." Great players bestowed their names 
upon openings of their own invention and died with their am- 
bition gratified. Celebrated poets were proud to leave on 
record, side by side with the memorials of their inspiration as 
minstrels, the story of their skill in this mental sport. Courts 
seem to have been especially favorable to the cultivation of 
chess. Ilarun Rashid is supposed to have played it ; and his 
son, the Caliph Mutasim Billah, composed the earliest chess 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 23 

problems on record. Tamerlane, not content with the compli- 
cated manoeuvres of the forces upon a board of the common 
size, invented a monstrous kind of chess which required a field 
of no less than one hundred and twelve squares. Problems, 
and end-games, many of which are still preserved, attest the 
extraordinary skill of the Asiatic masters ; and the high point 
to which they brought the culture of the art is shown by the 
minute gradations of rank which were established among 
players. Several of them delighted in conducting games with- 
out sight of the board, and rules were laid down by which 
this rare accomplishment might be learned. Indeed the first 
performance of this difiicult feat in Europe was by a Saracenic 
player, named Buzecca, and took place in Florence in the year 
1266. In the West, the annals of chess, during this period, 
are no less interesting. It seems to have been known in 
Constantinople at least as early as the eighth century, and was 
generally diffused throughout Europe before the end of the 
eleventh. The monk. Jacobus de Cessolis, drew lessons of 
wisdom from its'^ctics in that celebrated morality, which was 
afterwards translated, both in prose and verse, into every 
European tongue, and which, in the EngUsh version of Wil- 
liam Caxton, was the first book that issued from the English 
press. Conrad von Ammenhusen and Ingold of Germany, 
Nicholas de Saint Nicholai and Jacques le Grand of France, 
Innocent and Lydgate of England, Alfonso the Wise of 
Spain, and a multitude of anonymous writers, whose manu- 
scripts are scattered through the great bibliothecal collections 
of the Old World, composed moral allegories and practi- 
cal disquisitions upon chess. Most of the early novelists 
exhibit convincing evidence of the wide popularity which it 
had already attained. From Boccacio, the charming story- 
teller of Italy, down to the most turgid compiler of prosaic 
tales of chivalry and love, what may be called the light litera- 
ture of the middle ages is crowded with allusions to chess. 
The romancers committed a thousand anachronisms, and 
violated the whole history of the game, in order to bring 



24 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

the knightly sport into their pages. We owe to them, and 
to the chroniclers, whose veracity was sometimes scarcely 
greater, those pretty fables concerning the origin of the 
game, to which I have before alluded, and at which we have 
so often wondered and laughed. Outside of prose, the min- 
strels introduced it into their roundelays, and sang its de- 
lights in the bowers of maidens and the halls of nobles. Chess 
scenes and chess incidents are cunningly woven into the verse 
of Chaucer and his English successors, into the tales of the 
trouveres of Normandy and the troubadours of Languedoc, 
and into the lays of the Southern singers. Hebrew bards com- 
posed chess poems in the tongue of Isaiah. The language of 
ancient Rome was employed to set forth the virtues of an art 
which the ancient Romans never knew. The Vaeringar, or 
body guards of the Byzantine emperors, returning to their 
northern homes, brought the entertaining amusement to 
Scandinavia, and introduced it into the flourishing republic 
of Iceland, whose berserkers loved its practice, and whose 
skalds sang its glories in Eddaic stanzas. Charlemagne, Alex- 
ius the First, William the Conqueror, Richard of the Lion 
Heart, and most of the rulers of men in this period, whiled 
away their leisure hours with the shatranj. A set of chess- 
men, carved by skilful hands, was thought no unworthy 
present from one emperor to another. Kings gave golden 
sets to monasteries. Popes, bishops, and holy men, some of 
whom were afterwards canonized, gave by their acts the sanc- 
tion of the Church to the practice of the game. 

About the close of the fifteenth century the shatranj 
blossomed into our present phase of the game, and the third 
great period, that of modern chess, began. The vast revival 
of learning, the immortal invention of Guttemberg, and the 
increased intercourse between nations, brought about by the 
spirit of discovery and the extension of trade, exercised a 
visible influence upon chess as upon greater things. Although 
not entirely confined to the upper and educated classes, it had 
still been limited, in a measure, to the neighborhood of the 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 25 

court and the cloister ; now it became known to all ranks. 
Further improvements, evolved by experience, were made in 
the fundamental laws of the game. There is reason to believe 
that these were not the work of one generation, but that they 
had been gradually progressing for two or three centuries. 
The growing means of inter-communication, aided by printing, 
soon made them common to all Europe. The vizier, or coun- 
sellor of the shatranj, by a curious philological blunder, be- 
came the queen, and was raised from the rank of a minor 
figure to that of the most powerful piece on the board, com- 
bining, the powers of the rook and the bishop. The bishop 
was now allowed the free range of a diagonal, instead of 
being restricted in his movements to two squares at a time. 
The pawns were permitted, on their first move, to advance 
one or two squares, at the option of the player, whereas in the 
shatranj they were limited at all times to one step. This was 
a much needed alteration, as it brought about a more rapid 
development of the contest. To obviate, in a measure, this 
enhanced power of the foot-soldiers, the non passar hattaglia^ 
or right of capturing in passing, was introduced in many 
countries. The privilege of castling, unknown in the chatu- 
ranga and shatranj, was given to the king, at first according 
to the Italian method, and then in the manner of the Anglo- 
French school. Near the commencement of this period the 
convenient, but not essential practice of making the squares 
or houses of the chess-board of two different colors came into 
vogue. These changes, once effected, and firmly established, 
men commenced to turn their attention more closely to the 
theory of the game. Analyses were made of the different 
openings then in use, and the exact powers of the pieces and 
pawns in various positions began to be carefully studied. 
Systems of rules were devised for the government of players 
in their intercourse over the board with each other, and 
penalties laid down to insure their observance. In short, 
chess in its new development grew to be, if not less of a 
game, at least more of an art — an art requiring on the part 

2 



26 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

of its successful cultivators a kind of talent as peculiar, and a 
spirit of investigation as unwearied, as those demanded by 
any other intellectual employment. 

The sixteenth century opened with the appearance of the 
work of the Portuguese, Damiano ; a few years before the 
treatises of the Spaniards, Lucena and Vicent, had been pub- 
lished, and to the former of these Damiano appears to have 
been largely indebted. Long before the close of the century 
his work was translated into Italian, French, and English. 
Following him, at the distance of fifty years, came Ruy 
Lopez, a Spanish priest, whose work hardly equals th^ repu- 
tation which he left behind him as a player. He criticises 
severely his Portuguese predecessor for having recommended 
the move of 2. Kt b8 — c6 as the best method of defence for 
the second player in the King's Knight's Opening. It is 
curious that chess writers, after having for half a century 
gravely rebuked Lopez for his supposed error, now appear 
almost prepared to coincide with him. Lopez' book was soon 
translated into Italian. At this time, too, Vida, Bishop of 
Cremona, chanted the praises and pleasures of chess in Latin 
verse, whose vigor and elegance recalled the Augustan age. 
A hundred versions and paraphrases have since made his 
poem familiar to readers of every civilized speech. Ducchi, 
of Vicenza, gave to the world a sort of chess epic in six 
cantos. Azzio in Italy, and before him, Mennel in Germany, 
wrote volumes on the legal relations of the game. Just 
before the termination of the century appeared the work of 
Gianuzio of Turin, a writer who, in fecundity of ideas and 
correctness of combinations, excelled all before him. In the 
latter part of his work he explains how the knight may cap- 
ture successively all the chess-men without twice occupying 
the same square — a puzzle which probably gave rise to the 
knight's tour, upon which De Moivre, Montmart, and others 
have expended so much mathematical skill. The great charac- 
teristic of this century was undoubtedly the awakening of a 
love for chess in the south of Europe. The first books were 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 27 

published in the Iberian peninsula; the first clubs were 
organized in the Italian peninsula. Great players arose in 
both, and Naples and Madrid were the two centres around 
which the spirit of chess revolved. In Italy, Leonardo da 
Cutri, and Paolo Boi of Syracuse, acquired the largest re- 
nown, and placed their country at the head of chess-playing 
nations, a position which it maintained down to the days of 
Philidor. I regret that my space will not allow me to re- 
count in full the romantic story of these knight-errants of 
chess. I should like to relate how, incited by an ambition to 
excel, they first contended with each other, and then betook 
themselves to other lands in search of foemen worthy of their 
prowess. How both met with numberless adventures and 
worsted a host of opponents in their wanderings. How love 
and patriotism, two of the holiest attributes of man's nature, 
mingled themselves with chess in their glorious careers. How, 
when they arrived at the Spanish capital, they encountered 
the great masters of Spanish chess, Ruy Lopez and Xerone, 
and made Madrid, in the year 1575, the scene of a long and 
exciting chess tournament, the first and perhaps the gayest 
on record. How, introduced by ambassadors and nobles, 
they played in the presence of the royal Philip the Second, 
who himself bestowed the well-earned prize upon the victor. 
And how, at length, the two gallant champions returned to 
their native land, and died rich in fame and crowned with 
unfading honors. Sebastian, the unhappy, but beloved, king of 
Portugal, was fond of chess, and patronized a distinguished 
player known as the Moor, The JSTeapolitan academy or 
club was founded in this century, and did much for the ad- 
vancement of chess. Its chief players were Michele de Mauro, 
Domenico di Leonardi, Salvio, il Beneventano, I'Ametrano, 
and so forth. While these great events were happening 
south of the Alps and the Pyrenees, the other countries of 
Europe were slowly but steadily progressing in a knowledge 
of the game, although they produced but few players of 
renown, and added little except translations to the literature 



28 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

of chess. In England, among the best players were Bishop 
and Potter, the former an officer in the army, and the latter a 
mechanician of great skill. It is reported that they once 
played a match which lasted some days, each party winning 
an equal number of games. The names of Blagrave and Sir 
Edward Hastings have also come down to us. That chess 
was not uncommon in Germany is seen from the anecdote, so 
often repeated, of the Elector John of Saxony, from the 
writings of Luther and others, and from many old paintings 
and engravings. The remainder of Europe furnishes little 
else but casual allusions to chess, occurring in the pages of 
various prose and poetical writers. 

During the first years of the seventeenth century the general 
fondness for chess in Italy exhibited no symptoms of a decline. 
The brilliant and active club at Naples still existed, and Salvio, 
a strong player and clever writer, published at that city, in 
1604, an excellent practical treatise, which displayed a marked 
advance in analytical labors. This was soon afterwards fol- 
lowed by the work of Carrera, a priest and antiquary of Sicily, 
whose book shows rather less acumen than that of his Neapo- 
litan contemporary, but contains some ingenious end-games. 
Both of these authors mention the names of numerous remark- 
able players who flourished at this epoch. After their publi- 
cations no theoretical work of note appeared in Italy except 
the small one of Piacenza, which was printed at Turin towards 
the close of the century. In 1647 Antonio das Neves, a 
Portuguese priest, gave to the world an unimportant work on 
the game. Its appearance was the last event worthy of record 
which occurred in the chess history of the Iberian peninsula. 
In France the splendid career of Greco was the noteworthy 
incident of the century. He is supposed to have been a native 
of the Morea, but passed his youth in Calabria, whence he is 
known as the Calahrian, He acquired a thorough chess edu- 
cation in the clubs of Italy, and may be considered as the 
founder of the Anglo-French school, whose glory culminated 
with Philidor. His book, although wanting in soundness, is 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 29 

full of fresh fancies and novel ideas, and has gone through a 
multitude of editions and translations. Greco's chief opponents 
in France were the Duke of Nemours, Arnaud, Chaumont, 
and La Salle. In England Saul was the only native writer on 
the theory of chess, and his work possesses little or no origi- 
nality. Several versions of foreign treatises appeared, and here, 
as elsewhere, the book of Greco exerted a great influence. 
Besides Brounker, Budden, the royal Stuarts, and the great 
William of Orange, no names of British players have been 
presei^ed. That the game was more generally understood 
than formerly, is proved by the popularity of Middleton's 
comedy of the Game of Ghesse^ a sort of scacco-religious 
satire, which was acted in London, until suppressed, at 
Shakespeare's Theatre, the Globe. In Germany, Augustus 
Duke of Brunswick, better known to the literary world by 
his pseudonym of Gustavus Selenus, published his huge work 
on chess in 1616. The practical portion is a translation of 
Ruy Lopez, and the collection of extracts and anecdotes, 
which precedes it, was compiled with a loving and laborious 
hand from the books of the ducal library. Augustus gives 
the earliest detailed account of the village of Strobeck, a singu- 
lar little town in Prussia, where chess was taught in the schools 
and practised in public. This custom probably originated in 
the fifteenth century. The inhabitants acquired a great repu- 
tation for proficiency, especially in a variation of chess styled 
the courier game, but do not seem to have maintained it in 
more modern times. Two centuries after the days of Gustavus 
Selenus a famous English chess writer visited Strobeck and 
published an interesting narrative of his intercourse with the 
villagers. This century was fertile in attempted reforms of 
chess. Carrera and Piacenza each sought to add two new 
pieces and two additional pawns to the thirty-two men, and 
Weickhmann of Ulm enlarged chess into an enormous military 
sport played upon a gigantic board with an army of ofiicers 
and soldiers. These innovations died with their inventors, 
for chess needs no enhancement of its difficulties. A more 



30 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

interesting feature of this period was the historical researches 
which now began to be made by men of real intelligence and 
learning. The crude fables of the darker ages were swept 
away, and the labors of the scientific investigator substituted 
for the invention of the novelist. Sarrasin of France, and 
Severino of Italy, were followed by the erudite Hyde of 
England, whose extensive acquaintance with Oriental litera- 
ture enabled him to add largely to the historical knowledge 
of the West. His work has been used by all succeeding 
writers. Nor was the chess muse entirely silent during this 
age. Tuccius, in Latin only inferior to that of Vida, Gould, in 
English, Kochanowski, in Polish, and many nameless poets 
chanted the charms of the ancient game in verse worthy of 
their theme. 

The eighteenth century forms a memorable portion of chess 
history, and is crowded with the names of illustrious players 
and writers. During its first half the most noted practitioners 
in Great Britain, which was at this time the chief seat of the 
game, were Cunningham, the Earls of Sunderland, Stair, and 
Godolphin, Sir Abraham Janssen, Cluny, the Duke of Rut- 
land, Black, Cowper, Salvador, Cargyll, Bertin, and Stamma. 
The London Club met at Slaughter's coffee-house, St. Martin's 
Lane. In 1735, Bertin gave to the world a treatise on the 
game of some interest. Stamma was a native of Aleppo, Syria, 
but passed a large portion of his life in Europe, where he pub- 
lished his work, of which the most important part is his hun- 
dred celebrated and beautiful end-positions. He is also worthy 
of remembrance as being the first person who adopted the 
simple and convenient system of notation which now prevails 
in all the continental countries of Europe. In France the 
best known players were the Chancellor d'Aguesseau, the 
Marquis de Grosmenil, and Legal, the instructor of Philidor. 
Neither Italy nor Germany presents any names of distinction 
in the domain of practical chess during the first fifty years of 
this century. But in the latter half Europe was full of chess 
events of vast importance. Most prominent among these 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 31 

were the life and deeds of the great Philidor. He was born at 
Dreux, France, in 1726, and died in London, in 1795, and is 
justly renowned both as a musical composer and as a chess- 
player. He founded schools of strong players, both in England 
and France, between which two countries the maturer years 
of his life were divided. He played a match with Stamnia 
in 1747, and proved himself greatly the superior of the Syrian. 
His work on chess, which is rich in novel matter, has gone 
through a large number of editions and been translated into 
many languages. By his practice, his example, and his writings, 
he did more to increase the popularity and extend the influ- 
ence of the game than any single man of any previous or later 
age. His feats in blindfold chess astonished his contemporaries, 
and his skilful management of the pawns — those humbler 
members of the chess armies — make his games the admiration 
of posterity. His latest and best biographer* thus sums up his 
character : " But, of course, it is as a chess-player, that Philidor 
ranks among the privileged few, whose claims to be first, in 
their respective spheres of intellectual activity, have been 
decided upon by an action, on the part of their fellow-men, as 
authoritative as it is undefinable — by a tacit admission of 
supremacy, a general and spontaneous act of homage. Such 
names become, in a manner, sacred. A Newton is never 
exposed to be bandied about in comparisons : no modern 
experimenter in electricity can ever disturb the serene atmo- 
sphere in which Franklin sits secure. The same instinct of 
reverential good taste discourages all attempts at plucking 
the laurel from the brow of* Philidor. . . . The character of 
Philidor as a man is patent and palpable. Gretry penned his 
eulogy in the simple words, ' he was a good husband, a good 
father, a good friend.' Gentleness, meekness, amiability, ame- 
nity — such are the qualities dwelt on by all as the fitting 
adornment of perfect sincerity and sterling honesty." It was 



* The Life of Philidor, Musician and Chess-player, by George Allen, 
Greek Professor in the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1858. 8vo. 



32 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

in Philidor's time that the useful practice of recording actually 
played games arose, and the famous master's contests are the 
earliest specimens of living chess, to which the names of the 
players are attached, that have been preserved. This custom 
has been of incalculable value to the chess student as well as 
to the analyst, and has added immeasurably to the sources of 
pleasure at the command of those possessing a knowledge of 
the game. In England the chief opponents and disciples 
of Philidor were Count Brtihl, Saxon Ambassador in London, 
Lord Henry Seymour, Lord Harrowby, the Duke of Cumber- 
land, Bowdler, Leycester, Sheldon, Cotter, Smith, besides 
Baron Maseres and Atwood, the mathematicians, and Wilson, 
a divine. To the last two we are mainly indebted for the 
games of Philidor now extant. In France the Cafe de la 
Regence acquired about this period its celebrity as a resort 
of the most distinguished players and amateurs of the day. 
There the philosophic Voltaire and the sage Franklin found 
pleasure in the contemplative game. There the crafty Robe- 
spierre withdrew awhile from the cares of diplomacy and the 
labors of statesmanship to find rest in chess. There the 
mighty Napoleon the First, in the earlier part of his career, 
traced, in the brilliant successes and disastrous failures of 
battles on the chess-board, an anticipatory parallel of the 
eventful life before him. There men of the pen, the volatile 
Rousseau, the gossiping Grimm, the pleasant Marmontel, 
were wont to meet, in mimic warfare, the men of the 
sword. Marshal Saxe, Marshal Berthier, the gallant Murat, 
and the Duke de Bassano. There the associate Amateurs^ 
Verdoni, Leger, Bernard, and Carlier — all eminent players, 
pupils of Philidor and ardent propagators of his theories 
— compiled and published their Traite which possesses many 
excellent features, and forms, next to their great teacher's 
work, altogether the most valuable contribution ever made 
by the French mind to the literature of theoretical chess. In 
Holland, Stein, a professional teacher of chess, (whose best 
disciples were the Prince of Waldeck and Prince Christian of 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 33 

Hesse-Darmstadt,) and Zuylen von Nieveld, a general, were 
both distinguished ornaments of this epoch. The former was 
a strong practitioner, but his book was of httle value ; the 
work of the latter is especially commendable for its instruc- 
tions in conducting the terminations of games. Now occurred 
the second golden age of Italian chess. The appearance of 
an occasional new work, or new edition of an old one, suffi- 
ciently shows that the old spirit had never died out in the 
land of Boi and Leonardo, but since the days of Salvio and 
Carrera no player who could be styled first-rate, and no wri- 
ters who could be called original, with but one or two excep- 
tions, had come upon the stage. But now a brilliant constel- 
lation appeared in Central Italy, in the city of Modena, to 
which the throne of Italian chess was removed from Naples. 
The earliest in this starry cluster was Del Rio, a jurist by 
profession, whose work bears the date of 1750. It contains a 
series of useful and instructive end-games, but the openings, 
otherwise valuable, lose much of their interest to the reader 
on this side of the Alps, on account of the method of castling 
adopted by the Italian school. Del Rio is known as the Ano- 
nimo Modenese. In 1763, LoUi, of the same city, published 
a folio, composed by Del Rio and himself, which is remark- 
able for the carefulness and correctness with which it is ela- 
borated. It contains openings, a treatise on the defence, a 
criticism on Philidor and his theories, and end-games, and has 
been much used by succeeding writers. Nineteen years after 
the appearance of Del Rio's work, and six years later than 
the publication of LoUi's folio, Ponziani, the third great Mo- 
denese illustrator of the game, gave to the public the first edi- 
tion of his Giuoco incomparabile. Later laborers in the same 
field, of all schools, unite in praising its originality and com- 
pleteness. The variations in the openings are systematically 
arranged, and the regular endings of games, as well as the 
artificial positions with which the work closes, are worthy of 
all praise. The author, who, because he styled himself the 
Aiitore Moderiese^ is sometimes confounded with Del Rio, 

2"^ 



34 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

was esteemed both as a jurist and an ecclesiastic, and was a 
man of great erudition and genial manners. His book, which 
gives some acute critical notices of his predecessors, has 
been frequently reprinted in Italy, and translated into Ger- 
man and English. Del Rio and Ponziani contested over the 
board a host of games, none of which however have come 
down to us. The movement at Modena seems to have incited 
a similar enthusiasm in some other parts of Italy. In 1766 
Cozio, a nobleman of the little town of Casale Monferrato, 
published at Turin a work on chess in two thick octavos. 
This laborious writer follows Greco in giving entire games, 
instead of mere openings, and also in employing one method 
of castling. He introduces much new matter, especially in 
the King's Gambit, and seems to have possessed an excellent 
chess taste. He was much beloved by those who enjoyed his 
acquaintance for his kindly disposition and generous nature. 
In Germany, the foundations of that thorough nationality, 
which is a distinguishing characteristic of Teutonic chess, 
were laid towards the close of the century. One of the most 
powerful agents in accomplishing this work was undoubtedly 
Allgaier of Vienna, whose book appeared in 1795. He was 
the first who made use of the tabular arrangement in printing 
the results of analyses. For the greater part of his matter he 
was indebted to Philidor, LoUi, and Ponziani, but original 
suggestions were not lacking, especially in his notice of the 
gambit which bears his name. The Anweisung has been re- 
peatedly reprinted, and has undoubtedly had much influence 
in moulding the chess mind of Germany. Other practical 
disquisitions, of less extent and value, such as those of Kin- 
dermann and Andr'a, appeared about the same time. In 1751 
Philidor made a visit to Germany, and found many patrons 
and players among the sovereigns and nobility. He passed 
some time with the Prince of Waldeck, and played with the 
great Frederic, who in many other ways evinced his love of 
the game. This monarch was accustomed to combat with 
Marshal Keith, who left a considerable reputation as a player, 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 35 

and with the Marquis de Varennes, and others of less skill. 
It is even said that he once played by correspondence with 
Voltaire. It was in Germany that one of the most remarkable 
mechanical contrivances of modern times originated. This 
was the celebrated Automaton Chess-player, invented by Ba- 
ron "Wolfgang Kempel, and first exhibited at Vienna in 1769. 
It is hardly possible to conceive the excitement which this ma- 
chine created on its tour through Europe. Crowds flocked to 
see it at every stopping-place ; crowned heads condescended 
to meet the turbaned Turk over the board ; great players 
hastened to encounter such a mysterious and incomprehensible 
adversary ; wise men wrote learned books on the wonderful 
invention, and gravely argued with each other on the charac- 
ter and source of its motive power to such an extent that a 
large literature grew out of it. In short, since the days when 
Moorish armies marched across the Pyrenees, and the hordes 
of the Sultans spread desolation over the plains of Hungary, 
no turbaned visitor had caused half so great a commotion in 
Europe as was excited by the marvellous Turk. It is now 
known that a strong player was concealed in its hidden re- 
cesses, but in those times its secret was well kept from the 
multitude, and thousands of prying eyes, and hundreds of 
acute intellects, failed to completely discover it. The auto- 
maton arrived in Paris in 1783, and afterwards visited London 
and Berlin, where Frederic the Great, incited by curiosity, 
purchased it of Kempel for a large sum. When its hidden 
mechanism was laid bare the monarch lost his interest in the 
contrivance, and it was thrown aside, to repose for many 
years in a garret at Potsdam. It would be superfluous to add 
that the automaton tended greatly to excite a popular fond- 
ness for chess both in this and our own century. Imitations 
of chess, and attempts to change the character of the game, 
were not Avanting during this period. Marinelli of Naples in- 
vented a game of chess for three persons, and Hellwig, Ventu- 
rini, and others, of Germany, and the Duke of Rutland, in 
England, endeavored to enlarge the board and increase the 



36 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

military character of the game, while the ardent republicans 
of the French revolution tried, by the adoption of a new 
nomenclature, to banish its monarchical features. Novel 
names for the pieces and pawns were proposed by various 
writers in England and elsewhere, but, as might have been 
expected, none of these alterations ever came into use. Many 
eminent mathematicians, such as Euler, Guyot, Vandermonde, 
Collini, MoUweide, and Balliere de Laisement, spent much 
time and ingenuity, during this century, in seeking a formula 
for the knight's tour around the board. In the historical field 
Sir William Jones was undoubtedly the foremost laborer, 
Freret, in France, was little more than a copyist of Sarrasin, 
and Gtinther Wahl, of Germany, was chiefly indebted for the 
contents of his book to Hyde ; but the researches of Sir Wil- 
liam Jones were all his own. If modern investigations have 
discredited some of his opinions, and criticised with severity 
some of his conclusions, it is not so much owing to superior 
sagacity on the part of his successors, as to the great advance 
made of late in all Oriental studies. Among the Britons, be- 
sides Jones, Barrington wrote an essay on the names of the 
pieces, Irwin produced a dissertation on Chinese chess, and 
Lambe published a small and very imperfect history of the 
game. Among the Germans, besides Wahl, ISTachtigall, and 
the renowned Leibnitz, an ardent admirer of the game, illus- 
trated this department of chess. The entertaining collection 
of anecdotes and extracts by Twiss of London, and the plea- 
sant Letters of Verci of Venice, belong to the same period. 
The best poetical attempt of the century, and undoubtedly 
the most elegant specimen of chess in verse since the days of 
Vida, was the Cdissa of Sir William Jones. Written at a 
very early age, it, nevertheless, exhibits all the smoothness of 
versification and ripeness of style which usually belong only 
to writers of mature years. Its excellence and popularity are 
attested by numberless reprints. In English, two obscurer 
writers, Thurston and Hawkins, published poems on the 
game, while Fischer and Ramler, in German, and Cerutti 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 37 

and Roman de Couvret, in French, added to the literature 
of their countries and of chess in the same manner. And 
a great number of less ambitious pieces of chess verse, 
chiefly by anonymous bards, might be cited in many lan- 
guages. 

It was in the eighteenth century that the first glimmerings 
of chess in the New World appeared. The only name of note, 
however, was that of Benjamin Franklin, the philosopher, 
patriot, and statesman, who played chess from early youth to 
extreme age, in America, in England, and in France. He left 
to posterity a pleasant essay on the morals of the game, in 
which he warmly commends its practice. 

Brilliant as the eighteenth century was in every depart- 
ment, the nineteenth has far surpassed it. In theory and 
practice, in historical investigation and in literary chess, it has 
excelled all the earlier and later ages. The spirit of invention 
was never before carried so far, analytical labors were never 
before so thorough and complete, and the amusement was 
never practised by so large a community of admirers. During 
the first decade many of the disciples of Philidor still sur- 
vived. Bernard and Verdoni succeeded to the throne which 
he left vacant, while greater even than they were preparing 
to fill a larger space in chess annals. About the year 1807, 
the Honorable Francis Henry Egerton, afterwards the famous 
and eccentric Duke of Bridgewater, held several chess soirees 
at his residence in Paris, in which Carlier, one of the amateurs 
of La Regence, participated, and where we first meet with 
the name of Deschapelles. Stein was still living at an ad- 
vanced age in Holland, and Allgaier did not die until 1823. 
Sarratt, for nearly a score of years, stood at the head of 
English players. Cochrane, Lewis, Mercier, Parkinson, 
Brand, and Lavallino were the other ornaments of English 
chess during the first quarter of the century. In France, 
during the same years, Deschapelles, Bourblanc, Boncourt, 
Mouret, le petit Juif^ and Calma, were accounted the leading 
masters. The first-named, who lived until the year 1847, 



38 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

undoubtedly left behind hmi a reputation as a practitioner 
which has never been excelled ; it is a matter of lasting regret 
that so few of his games were recorded. In the year 1834 a 
memorable event, which will never be forgotten, drew the 
attention of the chess world to a single board. This was the 
famous contest between La Bourdonnais of France and 
McDonnell of Britain. The fame of the two combatants, their 
known skill, which had been proved in many battles against 
the best players of the day, and their different styles of play, 
contributed to render this fray the most interesting chess 
joust on record. It was played at the Westminster Club in 
London, and comprised six successive matches. The first 
three games were drawn, but the final result was La Bour- 
donnais, forty-four ; M'Donnell, thirty ; drawn, fourteen. 
The games are yet looked upon as master-pieces of strategy 
and appropriate models of study. Nine years afterwards 
another chess battle was fought between the rival nations on 
either side of the Channel. It took place in Paris ; the repre- 
sentative of England was Staunton, and that of France St. 
Amant. The score at the termination stood — Staunton, 
eleven ; St. Amant, six ; drawn, four. As specimens of the 
close game, the contests are justly regarded as admirable. 
Among the players of Great Britain, duiing the second 
twenty-five years of the century, were Staunton, Buckle, 
Donaldson, Williams, Walker, Wyvill, Tuckett, Evans, Harry 
Wilson, Kennedy, Spreckly, Daniells, Perigall, Mongredien, 
Slous, and Newham. Of a somewhat later date are Brien, 
Boden, Barnes, Owen, Bird, Green, Gordon, Greenaway, the 
Medleys, Hampton, Lord Lyttleton, Sir John Blunden, Lord 
Arthur Hay, and Viscount Cremorne. But English chess is 
not measured by the number of its native votaries. The 
popularity of the game in England and the reputation of its 
players have drawn to its shores such eminent men as Harr- 
witz, Lowenthal, Popert, Lowe, Falkbeer, Horwitz, and 
Zytogorski. In France, Chamouillet, St. Amant, La Roche, 
Jouy, Haxo, Lecrivain, Jay, Bonfil, Devinck, and Desloges, 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 39 

have been succeeded by De Riviere, Count Casabian9on, 
Count Isouard, Boucher, and Lequesne. 

Between 1830 and 1840 arose the celebrated school of 
Berlin, comprising an array of celebrated names such as were 
never before congregated within the limits of the same city 
and decade. Bilguer, Heydebrandt und der Lasa, Hanstein, 
Mayet, Horwitz, Bledow, Mendheim, and Oppen, were the pro- 
minent members of the active club in the Prussian capital. 
At about the same time Hampe, Falkbeer, Witholm, Lederer, 
and Matscheko lived in Vienna, Popert in Hamburg, and 
Szen, Lowenthal, and Grimm in Hungary. Rather later 
than these are Anderssen, Lange, Pollmacher, Dufresne, Count 
Vitzthum, and Lepge in Germany; and Erkel, Recsi, and 
Spitzer in Hungary. Russia has j)roduced some great players, 
among whom are Petroff, Jaenisch, Schumoif, and the Princes 
Urussow. The chief practitioners of Italy have been Ciccolini, 
Calvi, Dubois, and Centurini ; and of Holland — Hancock, 
Didymus, Verbeek, and Wentel. Among those who have 
pursued chess professionally the names of Kieseritzky and 
Harrwitz rank the highest. In America few players of note 
appeared until the century was well advanced. Among the 
earlier names are Oliver, Fisk, Vezin, Greene, Ingraham, and 
Vethake. They were followed by Stanley, Rousseau, Ham- 
mond, Thompson, Mead, Turner, Ballard, Raphael, Schulten, 
Ernest Morphy, Ford, Tilghman, and Ayers. Later names 
are Paul Morphy, Lichtenhein, Perrin, Marache, Paulsen, 
Thomas, Lewis, the Montgomerys, Morgan, Richardson, Meek, 
Fuller, Loyd, Roberts, Morgan, Kennicott, Maurian, McCon- 
nell, and Calthrop. The matches of Stanley and Rousseau at 
New Orleans in 1846, and of Stanley and Turner at Washington 
in 1850, excited much interest. , In India, until the conquest 
of the English, the shatranj was still played; but now the 
Anglo-Saxons have taught the perfected form of the game to 
the race whose forefathers, so many centuries ago, originated 
the old chaturanga, and some great players have arisen. 
These are Moheschunder Bonnerjee, Petumber Mookerjee, 



40 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

Karamat Ali Khan, and Ghulam Kassim. Chess by corre- 
spondence has been much practised. The most famous con- 
tests of this kind have been the Edinburgh and London match, 
played between 1824 and 1828, and those between Paris and 
Westminster in 1834-36, between Paris and Pesth in 1842-46, 
between Madras and Hyderabad in 1828, between Berlin and 
Magdeburg in 1833-34, between Hamburg and Berlin in 1833- 
36, between Berlin and Posen in 1839-40, between London 
and Amsterdam in 1849-50, between Xew York and Norfolk 
in 1840-42, and between Philadelphia and New York in 1856- 
57. The wonderful advance of science has opened to amateurs 
of the present age a new method of playing chess akin to 
that by correspondence. The first telegraphic match was that 
in 1844, between Baltimore and Washington ; this was followed 
by one between London and Portsmouth in 1845. The elec- 
tric wire is undoubtedly destined to be frequently used here- 
after as a medium of chess communication. But great as 
have been the events and the names within the domain of 
practical chess, yet vast progress in theoretical knowledge is 
no less a characteristic of this century. Sarratt published an 
analytical treatise on the game and several translations of early 
writers, all of value, but far from perfect or correct. Cochrane 
issued his work in 1822 ; it was partly a translation, but con- 
tained some original games of great beauty. Lewis for a long 
time maintained the rank of the first analyst in Europe, and his 
numerous treatises on the game were not superseded until the 
appearance of the German Ilandhuch, Walker, Staunton, 
Kenny, and Boden, have also been of great service in this de- 
partment. In Germany, the enormous work of Koch was 
published early in the century, but was only a compilation. 
It was followed by the volumes of Reinganum, Mauvillon, and 
Silborschmidt. But by far the most important theoretical aid 
bestowed upon the chess community has been at the hands 
of Jsenisch of Russia and the analysts of the Berlin school. 
The great work of the former on the openings appeared in 
1842-43, and has been rendered into English by Walker. 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 41 

The unsurpassed analytical ability of the author was at once 
acknowledged over all Europe, and his labors have been con- 
tinued in the same direction with equal effect and utility. 
The Handhuch of Bilguer and von der Lasa was first pub- 
lished in 1843, and has since been translated into English, 
with additions, by Staunton. It is difficult to accord too 
much praise to the distinguished authors. To say that their 
work, which grew naturally out of the formation of the Berlin 
school, greatly advanced the theory of chess, would be 
insufficient. It totally changed the aspect of theoretical 
chess. In the thoroughness and completeness of its analyses, 
in its philosophical arrangement, in its method of illustrating 
theory by practice, in its excellent treatment of the regular 
end-games, and in its fair and honest criticism of its predeces- 
sors, the Handhuch was a novelty in chess literature. Through 
this book, and in many other ways, the influence of the 
Prussian masters upon the entire chess world has been marked 
and beneficial. By the scientific laborers of the century 
several new openings have been discovered, and the character 
of many old ones entirely altered. The defence of 2.d7 — d6 
in the King's Knight's Opening, which was advocated by 
Philidor, was for a while superseded by that of 2. Kt g8 — f6, 
which was analysed and supported by the Russian theorists. 
This in its turn gave way to the classical move of 2. Kt bS — 
c6 ; but of late a manifest tendency towards the defence re- 
commended by Lopez, and bearing the name of Philidor, is 
again observable. The Giuoco Piano of the Italian writers 
has been fully illustrated, and an entirely new attack was, 
about the year 1833, invented by Evans of England, and 
elaborated by M'Donnell, which has led to some of the most 
brilliant and instructive games ever recorded. The variation 
of the Giuoco Piano formed by 3. Kt g8 — f 6, first proposed 
by Gianuzio, has been fully analysed by Bilguer, and, since 
his death, has undergone still further modifications of im- 
portance. Another one growing out of 3. B fl — c5, and 
known by the title of the Knight's Game of Ruy Lopez, has 



42 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

come into favor after having been little j)layed for more than 
two centuries. Still another attack in the King's Knight's 
Opening, that of 3. d2 — d4 was revived at the time of the 
Edinburgh and London match, and called, on account of its 
excellent management by the combatants of the former city, 
the Scotch Gambit. In the favorite debut of the last century, 
the King's Bishop's Opening, the second player's move of 2. 
Kt g8 — f6 has been analysed by the Prussian writers, from 
whom it is styled the Berlin Defence ; Lewis has introduced 
a new counter-gambit, that of 2. d2 — d4 ; McDonnell has 
invented a new attack commencing with 3. b2 — b4 ; and 
finally the results of 3. Q dl — e2 have been ascertained and 
modified. In the King's Knight's Gambit, the defence of 3. 
B f8 — e7, first brought into general notice by Cunningham, 
the most eminent player of the generation which preceded 
Philidor, has been carefully studied; Cochrane has dis- 
covered one or two novel methods of attack ; a vast deal 
of labor has been bestowed upon the brilliant Muzio Gambit 
as well as upon the variation springing from the first 
player's move of 4. h2 — h4, which was noticed by the early 
Italian analysts, but more fully investigated and strongly 
played by Allgaier, of Germany. The resources of the 
King's Bishop's Gambit were first developed and appreciated 
as they deserve by the writers and players of the present 
century. It is especially indebted to M'Donnell, Jsenisch, 
and the authors of the Handbuch, The Queen's Gambit 
has been admirably illustrated, in its acceptance, by the 
games of M'Donnell and Labourdonnais, and in its refusal 
by those of Staunton and St. Amant. In the so-called irre- 
gular or unclassified openings very important changes and 
corrections have been made, particularly in those formed by 
the two moves, on the part of the second player, of 2. e7 — e6, 
and 2. c7 — c5 ; the former has been a favorite subject of 
study and practice with the players of France, and the latter 
with English and German practitioners. This brief summary 
will give an imperfect idea of the immense progress of the 



Sketch of the History of Chess* 43 

theory of chess, since the opening of the century. Of great 
use, both to the scientific inquirer and student, have been the 
collections of games actually played by proficients of great 
skill. Such collections have been compiled by Cazenove, 
Cochrane, Walker, Lewis, Hunneraan, Bledow, Staunton, 
Kieseritzky, Williams, and Lange. But no department of the 
game exhibits the influence of the inventive acumen of the 
day more perfectly than that of regular end-games and artifi- 
cial problems. The former have been thoroughly analysed, 
and numerous mistakes of the early writers corrected. Con- 
spicuous in this line have been Szen, Kling, Centurini, Forth, 
and Adam. In regard to problems it would hardly be too 
much to assert that the compositions of the last twenty-five 
years exceed in number, beauty, and value, all the surviving 
productions of the earlier cultivators of this art. Montigny 
published, in 1802, a well-selected compilation from the old 
composers, and in 1814, Trevangadarya Shastree, a famous 
player of Bombay, issued a book of problems. But Bone 
in England, and Mendheim and Schmidt in Germany, 
were the first original European problem-makers of the 
century. They have been followed by a long train of bril- 
liant strategists, whose ingenuity and industry have created a 
thousand never-failing sources of delight for the amateur. 
Such, among others, are Bolton, Angas, Brown, Healy, 
Campbell, and White, of England; Grosdemange and Hurlin, 
of France ; Anderssen, Kling, Horwitz, Brede, Oppen, Dol- 
linger, Silberschmidt, Kuiper^ Bayer, Willmers, Pongracz, 
Delia Torre, and Novotny, of Germany ; Calvi and Centurini, 
of Italy ; Orville, of Belgium ; Capraz, of Switzerland ; 
Petroff, of Russia ; and Cook, Loyd, Marache, and Julien, of 
America. Several positions of striking beauty have also 
emanated from the native mind of India. Collections of pro- 
blems and end-games, either original or compiled, have been 
given to the world by Lewis, Mendheim^ Schmidt, Ciccolini, 
Mauvillon, Anderssen, Kuiper, Brown, Kling, Horwitz, Preti, 
and an enormous work, containing two thousand positions., 



44 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

was published by Alexandre, in 1846. Of late years tourna- 
ments have been held, in which the distinguished composers of 
different countries have competed for prizes. The rules, too, 
which govern the composition of these riddles have been in 
a measure defined, and something has been done, by the great 
modern masters of strategic chess, towards establishing a 
sound code of criticism. The Knight's Tour has received its 
best elucidation at the hands of Roget, Willis, Kafer, Warns- 
dorf, and Billig. Chess history has been zealously explored 
and many of the obscurities which enwrapped it removed by 
Christie, Douce, Massman, Lake Allen, Madden, Von der 
Lasa, Bland, Pichard, and Singer ; and very lately the re- 
searches of the learned Forbes have thrown a vast amount of 
light upon the origin of the game. The progress of chess 
from the East to the West, and the giadual changes which 
the names and powers of some of the pieces underwent, have 
been clearly and philosophically traced. Chess biography 
has been illustrated by Walker of England, Alliey of 
France, Von der Lasa of Germany, and Allen of America. 
Chess tales and sketches by Walker, Tomlinson, Oppen, 
Heinse, Hoffman, Kennedy, Aycard, and a crowd of anony- 
mous story-tellers, and chess poems by Mery in French, 
D'Arblay, Slous, and Tomlinson in English, and by Carisien 
in German, have shown the adaptability of the game to the 
purposes of the romancer. A new feature in the literature of 
chess, unknown to the preceding centuries, has been intro- 
duced in the shape of periodical publications devoted to the 
game. In 1836 Labourdonnais and Mery commenced the 
publication of the Palamede at Paris ; after the death of the 
great Frenchman it Avas discontinued for a while and then 
revived by St. Amant, but was finally succeeded by the La 
Ilegence^ edited at first by Kieseritzky, and then by De 
Riviere. In 1837 Walker published, for half a year only, the 
Philidorian^ the first chess magazine in English. The Chess 
Player'' s Chronicle was commenced by Staunton, in 1841, and 
continued through seventeen volumes; it was chiefly filled 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 45 

with games by the best players of Great Britain. The Chess 
Player was a less ambitions periodical, conducted for some 
time, in London, by Kling and Horwitz, and Harrwitz main- 
tained for a year and a half the British Chess Review, In 
Germany several magazines have had a brief existence, such 
as the Deutsche Schachzeitung^ the 3Iagdehiirger Schach- 
zeitung^ and the Wiener Schachzeitung^ but the Berlin Schach- 
zeitung^ now in its thirteenth year, is the oldest and best, and 
was founded by Bledow. It still maintains, with undimi- 
nished lustre, the reputation of the Berlin school, and is under 
the charge of Lange. In Switzerland the Schiceizerische 
Schachzeitmig is issued by Capraz, and mainly occupied with 
problems. Holland boasts its Sissa^ now eleven years old, 
and Italy its Alburn^ of a much later date. In America, 
Marache published in 1846 three numbers of the Chess Pal- 
ladiitm^ which was followed the next year by Stanley's Ame- 
■ rican Chess Magazine^ which was continued only through 
one volume. The Chess Monthly of New York was esta- 
blished by the author of this sketch in 1857. Akin to the 
chess magazine in its character is the chess column of the 
weekly newspaper, a custom w^hich has been followed by 
many journals. The first one was introduced, through the 
influence of Walker, into PelVs Life^ about the time of the 
M'Donnell and Labourdonnais contest. Then came in Eng- 
land the Saturday Magazine,^ the Illustrated London News,, 
the Era,, the Field,, and others ; in Switzerland the Bund ; 
in France the Illustration and the Journal du Plaisir ; in 
Holland the Handelshlad,, De Tijd^ and the Nederlansch 
Museum ; in Germany the Illustrirter Zeitung and the Fa- 
milien- Journal ; in Sweden the Illustrerad Tidning ; and in 
India the Madras Examiner, In the New World the Spirit 
of the Times was the first newspaper that filled a portion of 
its space with chess matter. It has since had a host of imita- 
tors, among which are the Albion^ the New YorJc Journal^ 
Frank Leslie'^s Illustrated Newspaper^ and Po7'te7'^s Spirit^ 
of New York ; the Saturday Evening Gazette and American 



46 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

Unio7i of Boston ; the Delta of New Orleans ; the Dispatch 
of Baltimore ; the Dispatch of Cincinnati ; the News of Lynn ; 
and the Standard of Syracuse. . It is scarcely necessary to 
add that this hebdomadal publication of games, problems, 
and chess news, by the widely circulated newspaper press, is 
contributing in an unaccountable degree to the spread and 
popularization of the game. Among the curiosa of chess lite- 
rature may be enumerated the Philidor of Pohlman, where 
each move of the openings is represented by a diagram ; the 
huge Encyclopedic of Alexandre, a compilation of all the ana- 
lyses of the debuts by different writers, arranged in a tabular 
form ; the Chess Grammar of Kenny ; the remarkable Phili- 
dor of Pratt ; the Funf und N'eunzig Satze^ by Porteus of 
Leipsic ; the Philosophy of Chess^ by Cluley ; the Chess 
Player'' s Annual of Tomlinson ; and the Schach-Almanach 
of Germany. In 1806, upon the entrance of Napoleon into 
Berlin, the famous automaton was drawn from its obscurity 
by Maelzel, a clever mechanician, and after meeting and de- 
feating the powerful Emperor of the French, again made the 
tour of Europe. It was finally taken to the United States by 
Maelzel in 1826, where it was at last destroyed by the burn- 
ing of the Museum at Philadelphia in 1854. Its secret con- 
ductors were, at different times, Mouret, Lewis, Schlomber- 
ger, and others. It excited hardly less interest than upon its 
previous appearance, and it was very generally successful 
against many of the strongest players of the day. It again 
gave rise to much literary discussion, and to the names of 
Windisch, Hindenburg, Ostertag, Bockmann, Racknitz, Ebert, 
Taruffi, and Thicknesse, who labored to explain the mystery 
of the movements during the preceding century, were now 
added those of Willis, Walker, Tomlinson, Busch, Tournay, 
Poe, and Mitchell. Giacometti, of Genoa, in 1801, endea- 
vored to bring into use a kind of warlike chess, where can- 
nons and mortars were substituted for the peaceful pieces 
and pawns ; and Enderlein of Berlin wrote with enthusiasm 
on the subject of chess for four persons. The bibliography 



Sketch of the History of Chess. 47 

of the game has grown to be a subject of study, and Caneel- 
lieri, Hoeck, Walker, Oetthiger, and Schmid have compiled 
catalogues of chess works, while the magazines have been filled 
with critical articles of great merit on individual authors. 
Chess libraries have been collected, with the loving assidu- 
ity of the bibliomaniac, by Mercier, Walker, Lewis, Bledow, 
Alliey, von der Lasa, Schumacher, and Franz, in the Old 
World ; and by Allen, Agnel, and Anderson in the New. Art 
has lent its aid to illustrate the game, and the chess pic- 
tures of Retzsch, Hasenclever, Meissonier, Marlet, and Stone, 
are well and widely known. Clubs have increased in a ratio 
corresponding with the increasing popularity of the game, and 
some of these organizations, like the Clubs of Berlin, St. Peters- 
burg, Vienna, and Amsterdam, the St. George's Club and the 
London Club in the British capital, and the Cercle des lEchecs 
at Paris, have exercised an influence far beyond the locality in 
which they were situated. Chess divans or chess rooms, 
established by private enterprise, are to be found in most of 
the large cities on both sides of the ocean. In some countries, 
as in Great Britain and the United States, national associations 
have been formed, holding meetings at stated periods, where 
prizes are offered to be competed for by players and problem- 
makers, and the leading lovers of chess are afforded an oppor- 
tunity to become acquainted with each other's powers. And 
when the middle of the century had been reached, an assem- 
blage, on a still larger scale, was convened at London, in which 
the foremost masters of all Europe participated. In this 
grand tournament the first prize was won by Anderssen of 
Germany, and the second by Wyvill of England. This con- 
gress of the master-minds of the chess community gave a 
great impetus to the game over the whole world. It also 
originated the movement now going on for a general revision 
of the chess laws and the adoption of a universal code — a 
movement which will be, in its results, of vast utility. 

Such is a brief outline of the progress of chess from its 
infancy to the middle of the nineteenth century. It less 



48 Sketch of the History of Chess. 

deserves the name of a historical sketch than of a mere 
chronological catalogue of the more important incidents in 
chess annals. I publish it here in the hope that some other 
writer will fill up the bare and meagre frame-work which 
want of ability, no less than lack of space, has forced me to 
leave incomplete. But even in this imperfect survey how 
glorious does the past of our game appear, and how richly 
does it promise equal splendor for the future ! Experience 
has taught us that as a source of amusement its abundant 
wealth can never be exhausted by the limited intellectual 
powers of man — that its treasures of delight and enjoyment 
are perennial. Its nature, its history, and its literature place 
it altogether above and beyond the domain of the gambler, 
and its character should never be contaminated by any com- 
parison with the debasing games of hazard, nor with the rude 
and savage exhibitions of physical strength. In due time our 
own country will bring forth its great players and its famous 
writers. May they prove themselves worthy to occupy high 
places in the Valhalla of chess ! May they equal in their 
blameless lives, in their lofty mental culture, and in their cor- 
rect appreciation of the character of our philosophical and 
gentlemanly pastime, those distinguished masters and teachers 
whose names adorn the pages of the past ! 



CHAPTER II. 

CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE HOLDING OF AN 
AMERICAN CONGRESS— PRELIMINARY PROCEED- 
INGS. 

In the year 1851 the European votaries of the game of 
chess held a great meeting in the city of London. Players 
were present from Russia and Hungary, from Austria and 
Prussia, from France and England. A general interest in the 
undertaking was felt and manifested by amateurs in all por- 
tions of the Old World. Letters of sympathy were received 
from Turkey ; a portion of the funds for defraying the ex- 
penses was contributed by the clubs of India. The public 
press, in many instances, encouraged the project. Men of 
wealth in Great Britain opened the list of subscriptions with 
true English liberality, and the chess lovers of the Continent, 
equally enthusiastic, added their own names to those of their 
insular contemporaries. Nor were the results unworthy of so 
much effort and zeal. Proficients of many nations partici- 
pated in a grand trial of skill ; masters, educated in different 
schools, and devoted to rival systems of strategy, met each 
other in stern mental encounter, and tested the relative excel- 
lence of their various theories by the most rigid of criterions 
— actual practice. Chiefs, jealous of each other's fame, had 
an opportunity of studying each other's character, and of 
admiring each other's talent ; large prizes were bestowed upon 
the victorious combatants ; and in spite of some trifling 
asperities a common harmony and a unity of action among 

8 



50 Preliminary Proceedings, 

the leaders of the chess world were secured. No event so 
important had ever been recorded in the annals of the game. 
The assemblage was successful in everything it promised to 
accomplish, save one. The prospectus issued by its managers 
provided for an authoritative legislation upon the chess code. 
All modern writers admitted, all practical players felt, the 
imperfections and anomalies of the current laws. The neces- 
sity for their revision was everywhere acknowledged, but the 
convention adjourned without any attempt at reform. But 
the meeting, without doubt, paved the way for the efforts 
which have been since made, and are still making, with a rea- 
sonable prospect of final success, to bring about the general 
adoption of a common and universal code. With this excep- 
tion the London Tournament of 1851 was a gathering of 
which our transatlantic brethren might well be proud ; and 
that they did rightly appreciate its importance is shown by 
the elaborate account of its proceedings, published some 
months afterwards in a good-sized volume,* by the formal 
crowning of the chief victor of the Grand Tournament upon 
his return to Germany, and by the articles chronicling or cri- 
ticising its acts, which appeared in all the chess magazines and 
chess journals of England and the Continent. 

America took no part in this world's festival of chess. Our 
chess public, at that time, was, indeed, singularly apathetic. 
It seems to have sunk into one of those periodical fits of 
inaction to which every art and pursuit are subject, and fi:'om 
which our amusement has no right to claim an exemption. 
Few or no clubs were then in existence. The magazine 
established by Mr. Stanley had been discontinued, and the 
only regular chess publication was a weekly problem in the 
Albion newspaper. The excitement consequent upon the 
playing of various important matches by Mr. Stanley, Mr. 



* The Chess Tournament. A Collection of the Grames played at this cele- 
brated Assemblage. Illustrated by copious Diagrams and Notes, critical and 
explanatory. By H. Staunton, Esq. London: 1852. 12mo. pp. IxcL and 377. 



Preliminary Proceedings. 51 

Rousseau, Mr. Schulten, and Mr. Turner had died away. In 
the west the Kentucky Tournaments had ceased ; in the south 
the career of Paul Morphy had scarcely begun ; in the east 
Mr. Hammond played but little ; and in the north neither 
Philadelphia nor New York possessed any organized chess 
associations. But in spite of the want of regular chess organs 
and the general lack of interest in the game, stray notices of 
the London Tournament crossed the Atlantic, were read, and 
served to revive the old enthusiasm. Several clubs soon after- 
wards sprang into existence. Chess departments were com- 
menced in various journals, and at length a magazine 
exclusively devoted to the interests of the chess fraternity was 
established. It is somewhat strange that no one should have 
conceived the idea of a general meeting of American players 
during the period between the years 1840 and 1848 — a period 
which was distinguished by a widely-manifested interest in the 
game. It is still more strange that, with the example of the 
British amateurs before them, no one should have proposed a 
similar convention in this country, during the time which has 
elapsed since 1851. It was not until the beginning of 1857 
that any person appears to have seen the desirableness of a 
national tournament. In March of that year the following 
article appeared in the pages of the Chess Monthly .** 

* It may not be improper to relate here the following incident. In January, 
1857, Mr. H. P. Montgomery, of Philadelphia, called upon the editor of this, 
volume. In the conversation which ensued Mr. Montgomery suggested that 
the three best New York players and the three best Philadelphia amateurs 
should meet in one of the two cities, for the purpose of playing a consultation 
match. In replj^ the editor proposed, instead of this arrangement, the hold- 
ing of a national chess congress, either in Philadelphia or New York. This 
proposal met with a hearty response from Mr. Montgomery, and was, so far 
as we are aware, the very first mention of the subject. The editor afterwards 
wrote to five or six distinguished amateurs, and so favorable were their 
replies that the whole affair resulted in the article quoted in the text. Since 
writing the text, we learn that Mr. Stanley, in a speech at the dinner given by 
the lovers of chess in New York to M. St. Amant, in 1852, suggested the 
holding of a "World's Chess Tournament at the Great Exhibition in that city 
in the course of the following year ; but nothing further ever came of it. 



52 Preliminary Proceedings. 



A G-ENERAL AMERICAN TOURNAMENT. 

Some half-dozen communications from as many different sources 
have suggested to us the idea of a National Tournament. Among the 
leading chess men to whom we have referred the subject, the opinion 
seems to be unanimous that the time is ripe for such a general assem- 
blage of American players. In pointing out what seem to us the 
proper preliminary steps to be taken to secure a result apparently so 
universally desired, we shall be guided, in a great measure, by the 
example of the London Tournament of 1854. That great gathering — 
the first of its kind — in spite of many errors in the details of its manage- 
ment, made an era in the annals of European chess ; and we might 
confidently look for results as important to the chess interests of our 
country from a similar contest in one of our great cities. Just now, 
too, it would serve a good purpose in enabling the American chess 
public to pronounce upon the adoption or rejection, as far as this 
country is concerned, of the revised code by Jaenisch, Heydebrandt 
von der Lasa, and Staunton, which will be published in a few weeks. 
As we look at it, the first movement ought to be the appointment of 
local corresponding committees, for the purpose of collecting subscrip- 
tions and arranging the chief features of the programme. They should 
consult concerning the place of meeting, and, with reference to this 
point, although New York seems to have many things in its favor, yet 
the idea of one of our correspondents, that it be held in the city 
furnishing the largest amount of subscriptions, appears to be worthy of 
consideration. Such a convention might very properly come together 
on the birthday of Philidor, which occurs on the seventh of September. 
After arranging the time and the locale^ the lesser details should be en- 
trusted to a committee resident in the city selected. The subscriptions 
for the London Tournament amounted to six hundred and forty-five 
pounds, or about three thousand dollars. Less than half that sum 
would amply suffice for the prizes, both to players and problem-com- 
posers, expenses, (fee, of a meeting merely national in its character. 
Each subscriber of a stated sum should of course be entitled to a copy 
of the book published out of the fund, and comprising all the games 
. played, all the problems receiving prizes, and a sketch of the entire 
proceedings. Will not the lovers of the game resident in our different 
cities at once appoint committees to ascertain the feasibihty of the un- 
dertakino: ? 



Preliminary Proceedings. 53 

The publication of these brief suggestions drew forth a 
number of communications from various parts of the land, all 
exhibiting a hearty desire that the project might be carried 
into execution. The feeling was so strong that the ofBcers of 
the New York Club felt justified in taking the initiatory 
steps. A special meeting of the members of the club was 
called for the evening of March 26th. At that meeting, after 
considerable discussion, it was unanimously resolved, that " a 
committee of five persons be appointed to issue a formal pro- 
posal for a general assemblage of American players, at some 
convenient time and in some accessible locality, and to cor- 
respond with other clubs upon the feasibility of such an 
assemblage." This committee consisted of Colonel Charles 
D. Mead, president of the club, Mr. Frederic Perrin, secretary 
of the club ; Mr. W. W. Montgomery, at that time chess 
editor of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper / Mr. James 
Thompson, one of the oldest chess-players of New York, and 
Mr. Daniel W. Fiske, editor of the Chess Monthly. This 
committee immediately held a consultation, and determined 
at once to issue the following circular : — 

A NATIONAL CHESS TOUENAMENT. 

New York, A'prU Vjth^ 1857. 

It is certainly a notable fact that Americans have exhibited during 
the last few years an enlarged appreciation of the game of chess and a 
growing fondness for its practice. The depth and extent of this mani- 
festation is sufficiently indicated by a rapid increase in the number of 
amateurs and clubs, by the successful establishment of a magazine 
especially devoted to the interests of the chess community, by the 
regular insertion of chess matter in several of our weekly journals, and 
by the interest everywhere felt and expressed in recent contests by 
correspondence between our different cities. 

These evidences of the progress and popularity of the game have 
induced a desire among many friends of chess for a great National 
Tournament, similar, in some respects, to the celebrated Congress held 
at London in the year 1851, and to that gathering which is about to 
take place in one of the inland cities of England. It is believed that 



54 Preliminary Proceedings. 

such an assemblage of American players would serve at once to illus- 
trate and assist the advancement of chess in this country. It would 
exert a wide and enduring influence upon popular opinion, and, in its 
ultimate results, would estabhsh our elegant pastime on the same broad 
footing of public favor which it has so long occupied among the nations 
of Europe. By its means, too, many distinguished cultivators of chess, 
now known to each other, for the most part, only by reputation, would 
become personally acquainted. The actual relative rank of our fore- 
most practitioners, at present a matter of frequent dispute, would be 
determined by an unimpeachable criterion. It would afford, not only 
to those participating, but to devotees of Caissa everywhere, a large 
amount of instruction and delight. And particularly at this time does 
such a convention seem more than ever desirable and proper, in order 
to pronounce authoritatively upon the acceptance or rejection, as far 
as this country is concerned, of the forthcoming revised code of chess 
laws. 

Actuated by considerations already enumerated, the New York 
Chess Club has appointed a local Corresponding Committee with the 
view of ascertaining the feasibility of such an undertaking. The mem- 
bers of that Committee, in the execution of the duty assigned them, 
would propose to their chess brethren throughout the United States : 

I. The holding of a National Tournament of American chess play- 
ers at an early period and in a convenient and accessible locality. 

II. The appointment of similar Committees in our chief cities em- 
powered to correspond with each other in reference to the time and 
place of meeting and to settle all other preliminary arrangements. 

III. The collection of a fund, by general subscription, sufficiently 
large to allow of prizes of respectable amounts to those players and 
problem composers who shall prove themselves most worthy thereof, 
and to defray the expenses of publishing a full account of the entire 
proceedings, including a selection of the games played and of the pro- 
blems competing for prizes. 

The Committee would request those Clubs and Players to whom 
this Circular may be sent, to address their replies to the Tournament 
Committee, New York Chess Club, No. 19 East Twelfth Street, New 
York. 

Charles D. Mead, 

James Thompson, Committee 

Frederic Perrin, j^ of 

W. W. Montgomery, The New York Club. 

Daniel W. Fiske, 



Preliminary Proceedings. 55 

This circular, besides being inserted in the May Number of 
the Chess Monthly^ was extensively circulated in a separate 
form. The responses which it called forth were in the highest 
degree satisfactory. Amateurs and clubs everywhere recog- 
nised the desirableness of the contemplated undertaking, and 
appreciated the advantages which would result from its 
accomplishment. Its feasibility having been thus ascertained, 
there still remained several vexatious questions to be settled. 
Conspicuous among these were the matters of locality and 
time. In a country, like ours, where the political, com- 
mercial, and hterary interests of the nation are not concen- 
trated in a single metropolis, but diffused among a number of 
large cities, it is always difficult to select a point of meeting 
which shall suit all the members of any profession, or every 
practitioner of any art. In this case the difficulty was en- 
hanced by the diverse and almost equally balanced claims of 
several candidates. Philadelphia was noted for the excellence 
of its play, and had just acquired additional celebrity by win- 
ning a match by correspondence with New York. It was, 
besides, the traditional seat of chess in the United States. 
There, nearly one hundred and twenty-five years before, 
Franklin had played the first game of chess of which we can 
find any mention in the history of this continent ; there the 
earliest American chess-book was published in 1802 ; there 
the most extensive and complete chess library in America, and 
one of the finest in the world, was to be found. New York, 
on the other hand, contained the greatest number of ama- 
teurs ; it was, at the time, almost the only city that could 
boast of any regular chess organ ; and the idea of a Congress 
had originated with its players. Chicago undoubtedly pos- 
sessed the largest and best organized club in the land. Wash- 
ington was the federal capital, and the most accessible place 
of assemblage for the amateurs of the Southern States. Balti- 
more, New Orleans, and Cincinnati, all had their peculiar 
advantages. But the time for holding the meeting was no 
less a matter of difierence. It was found impossible to name 



56 



Preliminary Proceedings. 



a season which should be convenient to every amateur. Those 
persons who were fond of chess were engaged in different 
avocations, and were scattered over an extensive country, and 
all that was possible was to choose a time not inconvenient to 
the majority. A lively correspondence, lasting several weeks, 
resulted at length in a satisfactory settlement of these diiS- 
culties. The other cities peacefully and courteously yielded 
to the earnestly urged claims of New York, and it was finally 
determined that the first American Chess Congress should 
convene in that city, on the sixth day of October, 1857. 

The clubs of New York and Brooklyn at once proceeded to 
constitute the following gentlemen a local 



COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. 



Charles D. Mead, 
Charles H. Stanley, 
Theodore Lichtenhein, 
James Thompson, 
William W. Montgomery, 
Frederic Perrin, 
Daniel W. Fiske, 
Daniel S. Egberts, 
Thomas Frere, 



of the New York Chess Club. 



(. of the Brooklyn Chess Club. 



and subsequently the gentlemen named below consented to act J| 
as a general 



COMMITTEE OF CO-OPERATION 



Samuel Smyth, 

W. a. Thomas, 

H. P. Montgomery, 

Samuel Lewis, M.D., 

Professor G-eorge Allen, 

A. Gr. Burley, 

J". Spencer Turner, 

Hiram Kennicott, 



i 



of Philadelphia. 



of Chicago. 



Preliminary Proceedings. jy 

Paul Morphy, \ 

Charles A. Maurian, Jr., > of New Orleans. 

Francis Michinard, 3 

William P. Pratt, ) 

M. P. McQuiLLEN, > of Cincinnati. 

Le Roy Smith, ) 

Selim Franklin, ^ 

T. J. GrROTjAN, > of San Francisco. 

William E. Wheaton, ) 

<r. P. Haskins, \ 

Geo. K Cheney, C of Syracuse. 

F. Lester, ) 

W. T. Johnson, of Augusta, Me. 

Edwin J. Weller, of Boston, Mass. 

S. R. Calthrop, of Bridgeport, Conn. 

Thomas Loyd, of Keyport, N. J. 

Ambrose A. White, of Baltimore, Md. 

Mason Brown, of Frankfort, Ky. 

David Parry, of Belmont, Buckingham Co., Ya. 

A..B. Meek, of Mobile, Ala. 

Thomas Hamilton, of St. Louis, Mo. 

Louis Paulsen, of Dubuque, Iowa. 

Daniel Rohrer, of St. Paul, Min. 

T. B. Baillie, of Sacramento, Cal. 

The Committee of Management now set themselves ear- 
nestly to work. Distinguished players in all parts of the 
country were invited to be present ; with a due regard to the 
interests of chess legislation, a committee on the chess code 
was appointed, and requested to draw uj) a report on the 
duty of American players in the present state of the chess 
laws ; another committee was appointed to report upon the 
possibility of a permanent national organization of the lovers 
of chess; and finally, subscription-lists were commenced in 
New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and other 
places. The following prospectus, the result of considerable 
deliberation, was drawn up and issued in the shape of a 

pamphlet. It was in part modelled from that of the London 

3^ 



58 Preliminary Proceedings. 

Tournament ; but the Problem Tournay, especially, was a fea- 
ture not to be found in its prototype. 

PKOSPECTUS OF THE NATIONAL CHESS CONGRESS, 
COMMENCING IN NEW YOEK, OCTOBER 6th, 1857. 

The circular issued on the seventeenth of last April, by the New York 
Chess Club, for the purpose of ascertaining the feasibility and propriety 
of a general assemblage of the Chess Players resident in America, met 
with a hearty and zealous response from the Amateurs and Clubs of 
the United States. So favorable was the feeling everywhere manifested, 
that it was deemed advisable to proceed with the undertaking, and to 
complete at once the preliminary arrangements. The size of the Re- 
public, the broad extent of territory covered by the different Chess 
Associations, stretching as they do from New England to California, and 
the business engagements of a large number of the prominent friends 
of Chess, rendered it necessary to reconcile many conflicting interests 
in the choice of the locality and season. At length, after considerable 
correspondence, both with individuals and Clubs, in reference to these 
points, the Committee of Management have the satisfaction of announc- 
ing that the first Chess Congress of America will assemble in the city 
of New York, on Tuesday, the sixth of October, 1857, and continue 
its sessions until the fifteenth of the same month, or until its business 
is finished. The Committee feel a real pleasure in stating that they not 
only have assurances of a fuU attendance from the Atlantic, Southern, 
and Western States, but that several of our Chess brethren from the 
shores of the Pacific, have signified their intention to be present on the 
occasion. No efforts will be wanting on the part of the Committee of 
Management, to make the gathering every way worthy of the game 
and the country. The Congress will be conducted, as nearly as possible, 
in accordance with the following 

PROGRAMME OF PROCEEDINGS. 
The first feature of the Congress will be one or more 

SESSIONS FOR DEBATE, 

in which the interests of American Chess and the present condition of 
the Chess Code, will be fully discussed. A National Chess Associa- 



Preliminary Proceedings. 59 

tion, composed of delegates from all the Clubs, and assembling once in 
two or three years, to watch over and further the development of the 
game in this country, is very generally thought desirable. All readers 
of Chess journals are aware, too, that among the matters now occupy- 
ing the attention of the public, in both the New and Old Worlds, none is 
more important or worthy of notice than a revision of the Chess Laws. 
Both of these subjects will therefore be taken into consideration by the 
Congress. In order that unnecessary time may not be consumed in 
debate, and to enable the members to arrive at a more ready under- 
standing of the questions presented, the Committee have thought pro- 
per to appoint the following Special Committees, who will report on 
subjects assigned them at an early session : 

COMMITTEE ON THE CHESS CODE. 

Professor G-eorge Allen, of Philadelphia. 
Professor Henry Yethake, of Philadelphia. 
Samuel Lewis, M.D., of Philadelphia. 
Mr. Paul Morphy, of New Orleans. 
Professor H. E. Agnel, of West Point. 

COMMITTEE ON AN AMERICAN CHESS ASSOCIATION, 

Mr. A. E. GrALLATiN, of Ncw York. 

Mr. Henry E. WoRxmNGTON, of Brooklyn. 

Mr. George Hammond, of Boston. 

Mr. James Morgan, of Chicago. 

Mr. T. J. GrROTjAN, of San Francisco. 

In addition to these reports, any papers on subjects connected with 
literary, theoretical, or practical Chess, that may be communicated by 
amateurs, either of this country or Europe, shall receive the utmost 
attention at the hands of the Committee, and will be submitted by 
them to the Congress. 

THE QEAND TOUENAMENT. 

A G-rand Tournament, composed of acknowledged first-class players, 
receiving no odds from any other players, or from each other, is 
intended to form the second feature. This contest will, it is hoped, 
secure many valuable additions to the hterature of practical Chess, and 



6o Preliminary Proceedings. 

furnish a satisfactory criterion for determining the relative rank and 
actual strength of our foremost practitioners. The entrance fee to this 
Tournament, which must be deposited with the Treasurer of the Com- 
mittee on or before the fifth day of October, has been fixed at Ten 
dollars. The method of play will be as follows : The contestants shall 
meet on Monday, the fifth of October, at three p.m. Should the num- 
ber of entrances amount to any even and easily divisible number, say 
thirty-two, they shall then be paired off by lot, and commence their 
games simultaneously. The sixteen players winning three out of five 
games, are to be declared victors in this first section of the Tournament, 
and the sixteen losers excluded from all further share in the contest. 
The sixteen winners are then to be paired ofi* by lot as before, the 
eight couple beginning their matches simultaneously. The eight win- 
ners of the first three games are to be declared victors in this second 
section of the Tournament, and the eight losers excluded from all further 
share in the contest. The eight winners are then to be paired off by 
lot as before, the four couple beginning their matches simultaneously. 
The four winners of the first three games are to be declared victors in this 
third section of the Tournament, and entitled to the four prizes. To 
determine the order in which the prizes shall be distributed, the four 
prize-bearers will then be paired off against each other as before, each 
couple to play the best of five games. The two winners in this fourth 
section of the Tournament shall then play a match for the two highest 
prizes, and the player winning the first five games shall be entitled to 
the fiy^st prize — the second prize going to the loser. The two losers 
in this fourth section of the Tournament, shall also contend for the 
third and fourth prizes. The winner of the first three games shall 
receive the third prize — the fourth prize going to the loser. 

Upon the assembling of the combatants in this Tournament, should 
the entrances amount to a number less adapted for ultimate division 
than thirty-two, the Committee of Management, in conjunction with 
the players themselves, shall arrange the method of play. 

PRIZES IN THE GRAND TOURNAMENT. 

After deducting from all the moneys received the sum necessary to 
defray expenses, and to publish the Book of the Congress, as well as 
the amount of prizes offered in the Minor Tournament, and in the 
Problem Tournay, the remainder of the fund will be divided into prizes 
to be given to the victors in the Grand Tournament, in the following 
manner : 



Preliminary Proceedings. 6i 

The First Prize shall consist of three-fifths of this fund. 
The Second Prize shall consist of one-fifth of this fund. 
The Third Prize shall consist of two-fifteenths of this fund. 
The Fourth Prize shall consist of one-fifteenth of this fund. 



THE MINOR TOURNAMENT.. 

In order to gratify the large class of Chess players, scattered through- 
out the country, who have not yet obtained the highest rank, a Minor 
Tournament has been arranged. This will comprise such players as 
may choose to enter the lists, who are in the habit of receiving the 
odds of at least a Pawn and Move from those participating in the 
Grand Tournament. The entrance fee to this contest, which is to be 
paid to the Treasurer of the Committee of Management, on or before 
the fifth of October, will be Five dollars. The method of play will be 
the same as in the G-rand Tournament. The Committee offer the fol- 
lowing 

prizes in the minor tournament. 

The First Prize will be Seventy-five dollars. 
The Second Prize will be Fifty doUars. 
The Third Prize will be Twenty-five dollars. 
The Fourth Prize will be an inlaid Chess Board. 

SPECIAL AND CONSULTATION MATCHES. 

Should time and other circumstances permit, the Committee will 
arrange, after the conclusion of the two Tournaments, a series of Spe- 
cial Matches and Consultation Games, between prominent players. 
Suitable prizes will be offered for competition in these contests. 



THE PROBLEM TOURNAY. 

So much has the taste for problems increased of late years, and so 
large has the number of eminent composers now become, that the 
Committee have been induced to offer prizes for the best specimens 
of Chess strategy. They will give for the best set of three problems 
the sum of Thirty dollars, and five copies of the Book of the Congress ; 



62 Preliminary Proceedings. 

and for the second best similar set the sum of Fifteen dollars, and 
three copies of the Book of the Congress. None of the problems are 
to be either suicidal or conditional. The following gentlemen have 
consented to act as a 

COMMITTEE OF EXAMINATION AND A WARD. 

Mr. Eugene B. Cook, of Hoboken. 
Mr. W. a. Thomas, of Philadelphia. 
Mr. W. J. A. Fuller, of New York. 
Mr. J". Ferguson, of Lockport. 
Mr. S. K. Calthrop, of Bridgeport. 

The problems, plainly prepared on diagrams and accompanied by 
sealed envelopes, distinguished by a motto, and containing the name 
of the composer, are to be addressed to Eugene B. Cook, Esq., Ho- 
hokeUj New Jersey ^ before the first day of November, 1857. This late 
date has been chosen in order to enable the composers of England, 
Germany, and France, to compete with their brethren of America for 
these prizes. The decision of the Committee will be announced in the 
various Chess periodicals, and the successful problems published in the 
Book of the Congress. 

THE BOOK OF THE CONGRESS. 

The Committee of Management will publish, under proper editorial 
supervision, a Book of the Congress, to comprise : — 1. A historical 
sketch of Chess in America. 2. A complete account of the Congress, 
from its inception to its end. 3. Such reports made, papers read, or 
addresses delivered at the Congress as may seem of interest. 4. All 
of the games played, or such a selection from them as may appear 
desirable, illustrated by full and careful notes. 5. All the problems 
receiving prizes. 6. A list of subscribers to the General Fund. 



THE GENERAL FUND. 

Every subscriber to the General Fund, to the amount of five dollars 
and upwards, is entitled to a copy of the Book of the Congress. A 
project so likely to benefit materially the cause of Chess in America, 
cannot but commend itself to the sympathies of every amateur. The 



i 



Preliminary Proceedings. 63 

Committee^ therefore, confidently hope that lovers of Chess throughout 
the United States will be both liberal and prompt in their subscrip- 
tions. To carry the undertaking to a successful and satisfactory issue, 
a large fund will be required, and the Committee wish to ascertain as 
early as possible the exact amount of money likely to be placed at their 
disposal. Subscriptions can be remitted direct to James Thompson, 
Esq., Treasurer of the Committee of Management, 359 Broadway, 
New York. 

All other communications than those containing remittances, are to 
be addressed to Daniel W. Fiske, Secretary of the Committee of 
Management, Chess Club, 19 East Twelfth Street, New York. 

Charles D. Mead, 

President of the Committee. 
Daniel W. Fiske, 

Secretary of the Committee. 
New Yorh Chess Cluh, July 20th, 1857. 

Appended to the above prospectus were the following care- 
fully considered 

RULES AND REaULATIONS. 

1. The Sessions are to be held, and the Tournaments played, at the 
New York Chess Club. 

2. No others but subscribers to the General Fund will be admitted 
to the Rooms, or allowed to participate in the debates or play. 

3. The names of all competitors in the two Tournaments, must 
be sent in to the Committee of Management, on or before the first' of 
October. 

4. The combatants in the Grand Tournament are to meet at the 
New York Club on Monday, the fifth of October, at three p.m., when 
they will be paired off by lot. The playing will be commenced on the 
following day. 

5. The combatants in the Minor Tournament are to meet at the 
New York Club on Monday, the twelfth of October, at three p.m., when 
they will be paired off by lot. The playing will commence the follow- 
ing day. 

6. The games are to be played in accordance with the Code of Chess 
Rules, published in Staunton's Chess Player's Hand Booh, and all 
disputed points referred to a Special Committee appointed by the 



64 Preliminary Proceedings. 

Committee of Management, whose decision must be considered final. 
Drawn games are not to be counted. 

7. The hours of play will be from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. 

8. Any player failing to attend within half an hour of the time 
appointed for play, must forfeit three dollars to the Fund, for each and 
every non-attendance ; and after three forfeitures for absence, he will 
not be permitted to enter the lists again. 

9. For non-attendance on one occasion only, a medical certificate 
will be allowed to excuse the absentee from penalty. 

10. One game at least is to be played at a sitting. After four hours, 
however, at the request of either party, a game may be adjourned for 
one hour. All play will cease at 12 o'clock, p.m., or as near that time 
as both parties in a game shall have played an equal number of 
moves. 

11. In cases of unreasonable delay, the Committee of Management 
reserve to themselves the right to limit the time to be consumed on 
any move, to thirty minutes. 

12. As the Committee of Management guarantee to every subscriber 
of five dollars and upwards, a correct and detailed account of the 
Congress, all the games played, and all the problems competing for 
prizes, are to be regarded as their property, and no one will be allowed 
to publish any of such games or problems, without their express 
sanction. 

13. Every player entering the lists in the Tournament, must consider 
himself ipso facto bound by all regulations issued by the Committee of 
Management. 

Copies of this Prospectus, with the accompanying Rules 
and Regulations, were sent to the prominent journals of the 
large cities. Some of them copied the pamphlet in extenso; 
still more noticed the undertaking with handsome words of 
encouragement. The press, generally, throughout the Union, 
gave all needful publicity to the scheme, and no little degree 
of interest was manifested in these efforts to extend the prac- 
tice of our quiet game of calculation even by the non-chess- 
playing portion of the community. The great commercial 
panic which commenced its ravages some weeks before the 
day fixed for the opening of the Congress undoubtedly 
influenced unfavorably the amount of subscriptions to the 



Preliminary Proceedings. 65 

general fund. But still the sum raised was much beyond the 
anticipations of the Committee. 

About two weeks before the commencement of the con- 
gress the Committee issued a final circular, containing a list 
of such prominent players as had promised to attend and a 
programme of arrangements. It stated that the Committee 
were fully convinced of the success of the undertaking, and 
gave many items of information interesting to members out- 
side of New York City. Its importance, however, was not 
great enough to warrant us in reprinting it here. It was 
widely circulated, and doubtless convinced many, who were 
still incredulous, that the coming festival was likely to be one 
of the great events of American chess history. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE PERIOD OF THE CONGRESS. 

The time, so anxiously expected by the cultivators of chess 
in the United States, at length arrived. Several days previ- 
ous to the period set apart for the formal opening of the Con- 
gress, amateurs from various parts of the country began to 
arrive in the city. Among the earliest was Mr. T. J. Grot- 
jan, delegate of the clubs in San Francisco, California. To 
the great regret of the Committee his engagements compelled 
him to leave without taking any active part in the proceed- 
ings. Mr. Louis Paulsen, of Iowa, whose high reputation 
preceded him, was in the city sufficiently early to gratify the 
members of the New York Club with an exhibition of his 
wonderful abilities in playing without sight of the board. 
Mr. Morphy, whose attendance for a long time was very 
doubtful, telegraphed to the Committee his departure from 
New Orleans in the latter part of September, and reached 
New York on Monday, October 5th. Mr. Kennicott, one of 
the leading players of the Chicago Club, and Mr. Allison, a 
prominent amateur of Minnesota, arrived on the previous Sa- 
turday. Judge Meek, who holds a high rank among the chess 
proficients of the Southern States, was at the metropolis in 
the month of September. On the afternoon of Monday, the 
fifth of October, those persons intending to participate in the 
Grand Tournament met, in accordance with the prospectus, 
at the rooms of the New York Club, in order to make the 
final arrangements for the contest. The following gentlemen 
were present, and signified their intention to enter the lists : 



The Period of the Congress. 67 

Mr. W. S. Allison, of Hastings, Minnesota. 
Mr. Hiram Kennicott, of Chicago, Illinois. 
Mr. Hubert Knott, of Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Mr. Theodore Lichtenhein, of New York City. 
Mr. N. Marache, of New York City. 
Hon. A. B. Meek, of Mobile, Alabama. 
Mr. Paul Morphy, of New Orleans, Louisiana. 
Mr. Louis Paulsen, of Dubuque, Iowa. 
Mr. Frederic Perrin, of New York City. 
Dr. B. I. Eaphael, of Louisville, Kentucky. 
Mr. Charles H. Stanley, of New York City. 
Mr. James Thompson, of New York City. 

In addition to these Mr. W. J, A. Fuller and Mr. Denis 
Julien, of New York, both declared themselves willing to 
engage in the contest, provided the required number of six- 
teen could not otherwise be completed. A telegram from 
Mr. H. P. Montgomery, of Philadelphia, informed the Com- 
mittee that, although he could not be present at this meeting, 
he would nevertheless reach the city in time to commence 
playing the following day. The gentlemen above named then 
organized, and requested Colonel Charles D. Mead to act as 
their chairman, and Mr. Daniel W. Fiske as their secretary. 
Several methods of play, differing from that laid down in the 
prospectus, were then proposed, calculated to do away with 
much of the difficulty which would result from the unfortu- 
nate pairing of the combatants. The most ingenious of these 
schemes were those submitted by the Hon. Mr. Meek and by 
Mr. Calthrop, of Bridgeport. It will be remembered that 
considerable disappointment had been felt in the London 
Tournament, from the fact that some of the very best players 
had been drawn against each other in the first round or sec- 
tion. Several, who would otherwise have probably taken 
prizes, had thus been thrown out at the very first stage. To 
obviate this it was proposed that the eight winners in the first 
section should play for the first and second prizes, and the 
eight losers for the third and fourth. In this way, it will be 
seen, that the best and second best players, even though they 



68 The Period of the Congress. 

had been paired together in the first round, would both have 
ultimately secured prizes. This was Mr. Calthrop's plan ; 
Judge Meek's, though diifering in some particulars, was cal- 
culated to attain the same object. After a lengthy discussion 
it was finally determined to reject both these propositions, 
and to carry out the method of play adopted by the Commit- 
tee of Management, and published in the prospectus. Several 
other questions of minor importance were debated, and so 
much time was consumed in these preliminary arrangements 
that it was resolved to postpone the drawing until the after- 
noon of the next day. In the evening the rooms of the Club 
were thronged with spectators to witness some passages-at- 
arms between Mr. Paul Morphy and Mr. Charles H. Stanley. 
The sixth day of October was the time fixed for the formal 
opening and organization of the Congress. The Committee, 
having foreseen that the quarters of the Metropolitan Club 
would not be large enough to accommodate the number of sub- 
scribers to the fund, had hired the extensive apartments at No. 
764 Broadway, known as Descombes' Rooms. These had been 
fitted up with special reference to the occasion, and the pecu- 
liar fitness and elegance of the decorations excited general 
admiration. At the east end of the main Hall, a room eighty 
feet in length, was a slightly raised platform, over which hung 
the American flag, draping the bust and bearing the name of 
Franklin, the first known chess player and chess writer of the 
New World. Along each side were suspended various national 
banners in the following order : the French tri-color, adorned 
with the name of Labourdonnais ; the English St. George's, 
with that of M'Donnell ; the German tri-color, with that of 
Bilguer ; the Spanish, with that of Lopez ; the Italian, with 
that of Del Rio ; the Neapolitan, with that of Salvio ; the 
Portuguese, with that of Damiano ; the Hungarian, with that of 
Szen ; and the Turkish with that of Stamma. At the foot of 
the hall were entwined the French and American colors, and 
stretching across them was seen the memorable name of Phili- 
dor. On scrolls, above the banners, were inscribed in silver 



The Period of the Congress. 69 

and gold typography, the names of the leading living professors 
of the art, including those of Lewis, Staunton, Walker, Von 
der Lasa, Anderssen, Lowenthal, Harrwitz, Petroff, and 
Jgenisch. The walls were furthermore ornamented with 
numerous chess engravings and photographs, much enhancing 
the general effect.* Through the entire length of the hall 
extended two rows of marble tables, upon which were placed 
large inlaid boards and the classically designed Staunton 
chess-men. These were protected from the crowding of specta- 
tors by cushioned seats arranged on either side of these row^s. 
A huge telegraphic chess-board, for repeating games of more 
than ordinary interest, hung at one end of the hall. The 
Committee had also provided for the convenience of mem- 
bers, ample conversation rooms, committee rooms, lunch 
rooms, etc., and printed cards were conspicuously posted con- 
taining the following 

EULES OF THE EOOMS. 

1. The Rooms are open (to ticket-holders only), from 9 o'clock in 
the morning until 12 o'clock in the evening. 

2. All conversation and noise are positively and strenuously pro- 
hibited. Both spectators and players will at once see the importance 
and necessity of silence and quiet. 

3. The games being the property of the Committee of Management, 
for the benefit of the subscribers, no person will be permitted to copy 
any of them for publication. 

4. Refreshments are served at aU hours in the lunch room below. 

5. Persons desiring any information will please apply to one of the 
members of the Committee of Management. 

At eleven o'clock, on the morning of the sixth of October, 
a large number of players and amateurs having assembled at 

* Among these were the two pretty engravings from the Mate Pending and 
Mated of Frank Stone, the celebrated outhne Game of Life by Retzsch, the 
humorous picture by Hasenclever, entitled The Chess Club, a chess caricature 
by Cruikshank, photographs of Stanley and Lowenthal, groups of American 
players, etc. 



70 The Period of the Congress. 

the Rooms, the Congress was called to order by Colonel 
Charles D. Mead, who, on behalf of the Committee of Manage- 
ment, nominated the following gentlemen as permanent officers 
of the first American Chess Congress : 

President 
The Honorable A. B. Meek, of Alabama. 

Vice-Presidents, 

Mr. G-EORGE Hammond, of Massachusetts. 
Mr. Albert E. Gtallatin, of New York. 
Professor Henry Yethake, of Pennsylvania. 
Mr. Hiram Kennicott, of Illinois. 

Secretary, 
Mr. Daniel W. Fiske, of New York. 

Assistant Secretaries, 

Mr. Thomas Frere, of Brooklyn. 
Mr. Frederick Edge, of New York. 
Mr. Egbert J. Dodge, of New York. 
Mr. William C. Miller, of Jersey City. 

Marshals, 

Mr. Denis Julien, of New York. 
Mr. S. Heilbuth, of New York. 

The nominations were seconded, and the entire list unani- 
mously elected. Judge Meek, upon taking the chair, made an 
eloquent address. He stated that he supposed his nomination 
was owing to that distinguished courtesy in her treatment of 
strangers for which N'ew York was renowned. He enlarged 
upon the dignity of the game of chess, which, by its very 
nature, was placed above all other amusements, and hoped that 
the day would come when its introduction into the schools in 
partial substitution for some branches of mathematics would 
be brought about. He considered it, as a means of mental disci- 



The Period of the Congress. 71 

pline and as an effective method of mental culture, but little 
behind the science of numbers, and for many minds greatly supe- 
rior. He congratulated the Congress upon the number and cha- 
racter of its members, and alluded to the favorable influence 
which it was destined to exert upon the spread of the game 
in this country, and upon our chess reputation abroad. He 
asserted that America stood in need of chess, and that chess 
stood in need of America. After some appropriate remarks 
upon the morality and refinement of the game, he concluded 
by thanking the Congress for conferring upon him the honor 
of presiding over its deliberations. 
Colonel Mead then read the 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. 

The idea of a national gathering of the chess-players of the United 
States was first suggested in The Chess Monthly for March last. So 
general was the feeling in its favor among the players of this city, that 
the President of the New York Chess Club called a meeting of that 
body on the 27th of February to inquire into the propriety of taking 
the preliminary steps toward the reahzation of the project. After con- 
siderable discussion, the New York Club unanimously resolved that it 
was very desirable that there should be a general reunion of the fore- 
most chess talent of the nation in one place, for the purposes of play, 
debate, and a friendly interchange of opinion. A Provisional Commit- 
tee, consisting of C. D. Mead, F. Perrin, W. W. Montgomery, J. 
Thompson, and D. W. Fiske, was appointed to ascertain the sentiments 
of amateurs in the various parts of the Union, and to take such other 
measures as might be necessary and proper. This Committee issued a 
circular on the 17th of April, which was sent to all the clubs and play- 
ers of which any information could be obtained. The responses from 
every source were at once hearty and favorable. So general was the 
belief in the feasibiUty of the proposed Congress, that the New York 
Committee thought it advisable to take measures at once to determine 
the time and place. A majority of the communications received seemed 
to concur in designating this city, where the project originated, as the 
most proper locality. Several, however, inclined to Philadelphia, from 
the number and well known high character of its players, and from the 
fact of its having been for a long time a sort of traditional seat of 



72 The Period of the Congress. 

American chess. The Committee thereupon addressed the Philadelphia 
Committee upo^ this subject. They repHed that, were that city selected, 
their ability to aid the fund would be materially increased, and that in 
such a case they would guarantee a subscription of $500. As it 
appeared probable that a larger sum could be raised in New York, the 
Philadelphians courteously conceded the point, and New York was 
chosen. The time decided upon seemed to suit, better than any other, 
the convenience of a majority of those likely to attend. 

These important questions having been settled, a Committee of Man- 
agement was appointed by the New York and Brooklyn Clubs, consist- 
ing of Charles D. Mead, Charles H. Stanley, James Thompson, Theodore 
Lichtenhein, W. W. Montgomery, F. Perrin, and Daniel W. Fiske, of 
the former Association, and Daniel S. Roberts and Thomas Frere, of 
the latter. A prospectus was immediately drawn up and published. 
Subscription lists were started in New York and other places. Special 
Committees were appointed to prepare reports on the most important 
subjects. In short, the Committee set themselves earnestly to work to 
fulfil the duties with which they were charged. The result is the 
present Congress. 

The absence of any of our distinguished players is to be regretted ; 
but the Committee believe that no time, however convenient, and no 
place, however accessible, would have been entirely free from such a 
contingency. The great extent of our Republic and the diverse pursuits 
of our leading amateurs will rarely, if ever, permit a full and universally 
attended gathering of the members of the chess community. Owing 
in a measure to the present heavy commercial and financial depression, 
the subscription to the general fund has been, in many cities, much less 
than could otherwise have been reasonably expected. This will consider- 
ably reduce the amount of the prizes in the Grand Tournament. But, 
after all, honor is the real prize for which every true chess man combats, 
and victory is the only reward he covets. In spite of these adverse cir- 
cumstances, the Committee nevertheless congratulate the members and 
chess-players everywhere upon the promised success of the National 
Chess Congress. Considered as the first assemblage of the devotees of 
chess in this western world it will be and is triumphantly successful. It \ 
wiU introduce to each other's acquaintance and esteem several of those ] 
men who have shown the acuteness of their intellects and the greatnesa 
of their mental power in numberless contests upon the checkered fielc^ 
it will prove to the Old World the real strength and actual virtue < 
American chess ; it will elevate the standard and enlarge the popularit| 



The Period of the Congress. 73 

of the royal pastime in this democratic country ; and finally, it is hoped 
that it will add to the literature of chess games and problems not alto- 
gether unworthy of the great and honored dead — the old masters of 
the art of chess-play. 

The Report was unanimously accepted, and on motion of 
Mr. Kennicott, of Illinois, it was resolved, that the thanks of 
theCongressbe voted to the Local Committee of Management, 
for the able manner in which they had prosecuted the under- 
taking from its commencement, and for the ample and 
excellent accommodation which they had provided. It was 
also voted that the Congress accept the action of the Com- 
mittee in appointing the following Special Committees : 

ON THE CHESS CODE. 

Professor George Allen, of Philadelphia. 
Professor Henry Yethake, of Philadelphia. 
Samuel Lewis, M.D., of Philadelphia. 
Mr. Paul Morphy, of New Orleans. 
Professor Hyacinth E. Agnel, of West Point. 

ON AN AMERICAN CHESS ASSOCIATION 

Mr. Albert R. G-allatin, of ISTew York. 
Mr. Henry R. Worthington, of Brooklyn. 
Mr. George Hammond, of Boston. 
Mr. James Morgan, of Chicago. 
Mr. T. J. Grot JAN, of San Francisco. 

ON THE PROBLEM TOURNAT. 

Mr. E. B. Cook, of Hoboken. 
Mr. W. J. A. Fuller, of New York. 
Mr. James Ferguson, of Lockport. 
Mr. W. G. Thomas, of Philadelphia. 
Mr. S. R. Calthrop, of Bridgeport. 

It was resolved that the President, Secretary, and Chair- 

4 



74 The Period of the Congress. 

man of the Committee of Management be ex officio members 
of the Committee on the Code. The Congress then adjourned 
to meet in dehberative session on the following Thursday, at 
nine o'clock in the evening. 

After this adjournment the players in the Grand Tourna- 
ment proceeded to draw lots for antagonists. In addition to 
those who had entered on the previous day, the names of Mr. 
W. J. A. Fuller and Mr. Denis Julien were inscribed on the 
list. Mr. H. P. Montgomery, of Philadelphia, was also present. 
These accessions raised the number of competitors to fifteen. 
At the solicitation of the Committee, Mr. Daniel W. Fiske, of 
New York City, consented to become the sixteenth. The 
result of the drawing was as follows : 

I. Mr. Hiram Kennicott, of Illinois, against Dr. B. I. Eaphael, 
of Kentucky. 
II. Hon. A. B. Meek, of Alabama, against Mr. W. J". A. Fuller, of 
New York. 

III. Mr. Fred^kick Perrin, of New York, against Mr. Hubert 

Knott, of Brooklyn. 

IV. Mr. James Thompson, of New York, against Mr. Paul Morphy, 

of Louisiana. 
V. Mr. W. S. Allison, of Minnesota, against Mr. H. P. Mont- 
gomery, of Pennsylvania. 
YI. Mr. Daniel W. Fiske, of New York, against Mr. N. Marache, 

of New York. 
YII. Mr. Charles H. Stanley, of New York, against Mr. Theodore 

Lichtenhein, of New York. 
YIII. Mr. Denis Julien, of New York, against Mr. Louis Paulsen, of 
Iowa. 

Later in the day, Mr. S.R.Calthrop, of Connecticut, arrived, 
and expressed his regret at not having reached the city in 
time to take part in the Tournament. Mr. Julien consenting to 
retire, a paper was circulated, and received the signatures of 
all the contending players, permitting the substitution of Mr. 
Calthrop for Mr. Julien as the opponent of Mr. Paulsen. The 
Committee of Manage.ment announced that the Rev. Dr. 



The Period of the Congress. 75 

Walton and Colonel Charles D. 3iead of New York, and Mr. 
Lewis Elkin of Philadelphia, had been appointed umpires for 
both the Grand and Minor Tournaments. The choice of these 
gentlemen was much commended, and the playing was at 
once commenced. As the evening approached the Rooms 
were filled with a throng of spectators to watch the progress 
of the battles. At the close of the evening the score stood as 
follows : 

I. KennicotTj 1 ; Eaphael, 0. 

II. Meek, 1 ; Fuller, 0. 

III. Perrin, 0; Knott, 1. 

lY. Thompson, 0; Morphy, 2. 

Y. Allison, 1 ; Montgomery, 1. 

YI. FisKE, ; Marache, 0. 

YII. Stanley, ; Lichtenhein, 0. 

YIII. Calthrop, ; Paulsen, 1. 

October ^th. — The session of the Congress was a full one, 
and the interest caused by the publication of the first day's 
proceedings in the daily papers hourly increased the attendance, 
A number of distinguished amateurs, such as Mr. George 
Hammond, of Boston, who arrived too late to enter the Grand 
Tournament, Mr. Morphy, Colonel Mead, and others, encoun- 
tered each other in side games. Besides Mr. Hammond, for 
many years the leading representative of New England chess, 
several other players from different parts of the country made 
their appearance this day, including Mr. Lewis Elkin and 
others, from Philadelphia. At twelve o'clock the score in the 
Grand Tournament was : 



I. Kennicott, 1 ; 


Eaphael, 1. 


II. Meek, 1 ; 


Fuller, 1. 


III. Perrin, 1 ; 


Knott, 1. 


lY. Thompson, ; 


Morphy, 2. 


Y. Allison, 1 ; 


Montgomery, 3. 


YI. Fiske, 1 ; 


Marache, 0. 


SIL Stanley, 0; 


Lichtenhein, 0. 


iTIII. Calthrop, ; 


Paulsen, 3. 



76 The Period of the Congress. 

It will be seen that two of the contestants, Mr. Montgomery 
and Mr. Paulsen, had won the required number of games and 
were now in the second section. 

October 8th. — Considerable progress was made in the 
Grand Tournament. Much interesting outside play took place 
between Mr. Morphy and Mr. Paulsen, Mr. Morphy and Mr. 
Montgomery, and Colonel Mead and Mr. Hammond. In the 
evening at nine o'clock the adjourned deliberative meeting of 
the Congress was held. A communication was read from Mr. 
Robert J. Dodge, of IsTew York, on the subject of a chess 
notation. It was referred to the Committee on the Code. The 
lengthy and learned Report of the Committee on the Chess 
Code, drawn up by the Chairman, Professor George Allen of 
the University of Pennsylvania, was read by Colonel Mead. 
It was listened to with close attention, was unanimously 
accepted, and a vote of thanks tendered to the Committee for 
the thorough manner in which they had performed their task. 
Much discussion then ensued, relative to the proposed new 
Code, the duties of American players in the matter, etc., in 
which a number of members took part. On motion of Mr. 
Elkin of Philadelphia, it was resolved that when this Congress 
finally adjourns, it shall recommend to the National Association, 
if such an organization be formed, to convene the next Congress 
in the city of Philadelphia. The deliberative session then 
adjourned to meet again at the usual hour on Monday the 
12th. Playing was then resumed, and at the time of closing 
the rooms, the remaining players, in the First Section, 
reported their scores to be 

I. Kennicott, 1 ; Raphael, 1 ; Drawn, 1. 

II. Meek, 1 ; Fuller, 1. 

III. Perrin, 1 ; Knott, 1. 

lY. Thompson, ; Morphy, 3. 

VI. FiSKE, 2 ; Marache, 0. 

YII. Stanley, ; Lichtenhein, 0. 

Mr. Morphy's name was thus added to the list of victors. 



The Period of the Congress. 77 

October ^th, — This day Mr. Charles H. Stanley, whose high 
reputation, during the last fifteen years, as a chess-player, had 
made his absence noticed, appeared at the Rooms and played 
his first game at the Tournament. Illness had prevented his 
previous attendance. It was announced that, on the following 
evening, Mr. Paulsen would play four games at once against 
four opponents, without seeing the boards and men. At Mr. 
Paulsen's request, Mr. Morphy was invited to be one of the 
opposing players, to which the latter readily consented on con- 
dition that he also played without sight of the board. In view 
of the desire of a large number of persons, not members of the 
Congress, to witness this extraordinary exhibition, tickets 
were issued by the Committee of Management, for three days, 
at one dollar each. The score in the Tournament stood at 
twelve o'clock, as follows : 

I. Kennicott, 2 ; Eaphael, 1 ; Drawn, 1. 

II. Meek, 2 ; Fuller, 2. 

III. Perrin, 1 ; Knott, 1. 

VI. FiSKE, 2 ; Marache, 0. 

VII. Stanley, ; Lichtenhein, 1. 

October 10th. — ^The Rooms to-day were thronged. Off-hand 
games and the contests of the Tournament occupied the entire 
forenoon, and in the afternoon Mr. Paulsen, according to 
arrangement, commenced the performance of his wonderful 
blindfold feat. Full accounts of this exhibition appeared in 
the New York daily journals of the twelfth, from one of which, 
the Tribune^ the following notice of previous attempts at blind- 
fold playing is extracted : 

The faculty of playing without seeing the board is by no means of 
frequent occurrence ; the game of chess is of so complicated and vary- 
ing a nature that it is generally considered sufficient to play well with 
the organ of sight in full operation. In a late conversation with 
Daniel W. Fiske, Esq., the editor of the N. Y. Chess Monthly, we 
gathered numerous interesting facts with regard to blindfold players. 



78 The Period of the Congress. 

In the year 970 of the Christian Era, a G-reek named Joseph Tchelebi, 
who had travelled throughout Eastern Asia, played a blindfold match 
of chess at Tripoli, Syria. We should, however, be incHned to call his 
performance blilid-man's playing, for, his eyes being bandaged, he was 
permitted to touch the pieces and thus discover the position of the 
game. The next instance on record is that of a famous Saracenic per- 
former named Buzecca, time 1266, and scene the palace of Count Popoli 
at Florence. This may be considered the first true example of blind- 
fold playing, for Buzecca performed the then unheard-of feat of con- 
ducting two games without seeing the pieces, and a third one over the 
board. In Carrera's scarce and valuable Treatise on Chess, published 
in 1617, we find mention made of several good blindfold players, such 
as Mangiohni of Florence, Zerone, Medrano, and the brilhant Euy 
Lopez of Spain. Leonardo da Cutri and Paoli Boi were also known 
for like performances. At the commencement of the last century there 
lived a Jesuit priest, named Grirolamo Saccheri, who, according to the 
assertion of the Turinese historian, Keysler, could play three games 
simultaneously without sight of any board ; and Yerci, in his Letters 
on Chess, declares that he possessed the power of playing even four 
games without scarcely committing the most trivial error in any of 
them. This is the only instance known, hitherto, of such a number 
being played simultaneously. The great master, and popularizer of 
Chess, Phihdor, astonished everybody in the French and English Courts 
by his wonderful powers in blindfold playing. Such players had merely 
been heard of, not seen ; and, when Philidor undertook three games at 
the same time, he was considered to have performed an incredible feat. 
Herr Harrwitz is the most noticeable instance of blindfold playing in 
the present century, and is considered in Europe as the great master of 
the science. He, however, plays but three games at a time, and when 
his opponents are of equal strength with himself he exacts odds from 
them. He has lately performed at the chess soirees given by Prince 
Napoleon at Paris, and also at the Manchester Tournament in England, 
where he won a game from the great G-erman player, Anderssen, both 
gentlemen being blindfold. Labourdonnais, the vanquisher of McDon- 
nell, and Bilguer, could conduct two games at once, and it is pretty 
generally the case that a first-rate chess-player can undertake one 
game without seeing the board. 

Mr. Paulsen and Mr. Morphy sat back to back on the plat- 
form at the end of the hall. The four boards were ranged I 



The Period of the Congress. 79 

across the room, and besides Mr. Morphy the opponents of 
Mr. Paulsen were Mr. W. J. A. Fuller, Mr. Denis Julien, and 
Mr. C. H. Schultz. The contests began at half-past four, and 
Mr. Paulsen's accuracy astonished the numerous lookers-on. 
His vast powers of memory seemed never to fail him, and he 
retained throughout an unerring knowledge of the positions 
of the pawns and pieces on each board. At twelve o'clock 
Mr. Morphy had won his game, having announced, at the 
twenty-eighth move, checkmate in five moves; Mr. Schultz 
had resigned, and the remaining two games were adjourned, 
on account of the lateness of the hour, until Monday the 
twelfth, Mr. Paulsen calUng off the positions of the men on 
each board in succession with almost incredible rapidity and 
precision. Several prominent citizens of New York and vici- 
nity, including many distinguished ornaments of the pulpit 
and the bar, were present during the whole evening, and mani- 
fested great interest in this unusual exhibition of mental 
power. No progress was made in the Tournament to-day, 
the games being suspended a little after midday to make 
room for the necessary arrangements in connexion with the 
blindfold play. 

October 12th, — This was the day appointed for the drawing 
in the Minor Tournament, to be composed of persons who were 
accustomed to receive small odds from players of the first 
rank. The sixteen amateurs who entered the lists were paired 
as follows : 

I. Mr. J. S. Dunning, of New York, against Mr. E. Fm^dner, of 

Hoboken. 
II. Mr. M. Mantin, of New York, against Mr. A. Mohle, of 

Hoboken. 
III. Mr. Thomas Frere, of New York, against Mr. Denis Julien, of 

New York. 
lY. Dr. J. W. Stone, of Boston, against Mr. W. Seebach, of New 
York. 
V. Mr. M. Solomons, of New York, against Mr. J. Tobias, of 
New York. 



8o The Period of the Congress. 

VI. Mr. C. E. Anderson, of New York, against Mr. A. F. Higgins, 

of New York. 
VII. Mr. Egbert J. Dodge, of New York, against Mr. W. C. Miller, 

of New York. 
VIII. Mr. W. Horner, of Brooklyn, against Mr. B. Carples, of New 
York. 

Playing was immediately commenced, but was partially 
suspended during the evening, to witness the conclusion of 
Mr. Paulsen's blindfold match, which terminated in his draw- 
ing the game with Mr. Julien and winning the one against 
Mr. Fuller. At nine o'clock the adjourned deliberative ses- 
sion of the Congress was convened. The Secretary on behalf 
of the Committee read the report on a National Chess Associa- 
tion, which was laid over until the next meeting. On motion 
it was resolved "That the various reports accepted by this 
Congress be transferred by the Secretary to the proper officer 
of the American Chess Association, when the same is properly 
organized, said reports to be preserved among the archives 
of the Association." The session was then adjourned until 
the next Monday evening. The progress made during the day 
is shown by the following score : 

I. Kennicott, 2 ; Eaphael, 3 ; Drawn, 1. 

II. Meek, 2 ; Fuller, 2. 

III. Perrin, 2 ; Knott, 2. 

YI. FiSKE, 2 ; Marache, 0. 

YII. Stanley, 2 ; Lichtenhein, 1. 

Mr. Raphael was consequently the fourth winner in this 
section. The drawing for the Second Section took place with 
the following result : 

rMr. W. J. A. Fuller 
I. Mr. Paul Morphy against < or 



(Hor. A. B. Meek. 
II. Mr. Louis Paulsen " Mr. TI. P. Montgomery. 



The Period of the Congress. 81 

r Mr. Daniel W. Fiske 
III. Dr. B. I. Eaphael against < or 

( Mr. N. Marache. 
Mr. Frederic Perrin "i r Mr. Charles H. Stanley. 



[ ^ r Mr. Uh 

) ( Mr. T. 



II. Meek, 3 ; 


Fuller, 2. 


III. Perrin, 2 ; 


Knott, 2 ; 


VI. Fiske, 2; 


Marache, 0. 


^11. Stanley, 2; 


Lichtenhein, 2. 



lY. or C ' ) ^^ 

Mr. Hubert Knott ) ( Mr. T. Lichtenhein. 

October ISth and lith. — Playing in both tlie Tournaments 
was carried on with zeal during these days. In the Grand 
Tournament the score of the players remaining in the First 
Section was 



Drawn, 2. 



Judge Meek, therefore, went over to the next section. 
Much interest was manifested in the contest between Mr. 
Lichtenhein and Mr. Stanley, the combatants being evidently 
very evenly matched. The old opponent of Rousseau, 
Lowenthal, and Schulten appeared, as the play went on, to 
regain much of that strength which, from long want of prac- 
tice, he had lost. In the second section Mr. Paulsen won his 
first game of Mr. Montgomery. In the Minor Tournament 
Mr. Dunning won one game and his opponent drew one ; Mr, 
Mantin and Mr. Mohle each won one ; Mr. Julien won one 
game of Mr. Frere ; Mr. Solomons won two of Mr. Tobias ; 
Mr. Anderson won three, and his adversary none; Mr. Dodge 
and Mr. Miller each scored one ; Mr. Horner won one of Mr. 
Carples ; and Dr. Stone and Mr. Seebach each gained two 
games. 

October 15th^ 16^A, and 11th, — During these three days but 
little of interest occurred. Players continued to arrive from 
different parts of the country, and the Rooms were continu- 
ally filled with a large and interested crowd of amateurs. 
Among the new accessions may be mentioned Mr. W. S. 

4^ 



82 



The Period of the Congress. 



Thomas, delegate of the Yale Chess Club, Mr. Hollis R. 
Murdock, Secretary of the Stillwater Club iii Minnesota, 
Mr. J. Chapman, of Boston, Dr. A. C. Hawes, of Provi- 
dence, and Dr. S. Lewis, of Philadelphia. Both Tournaments 
steadily progressed. At the close of the week the First 
Section of the Grand Tournament was nearly finished. Mr. 
Marache, whom illness and business avocations had kept 
away, again appeared at the Rooms. The score stood 



III. Perrin, 3; 
VI. FiSKE,2; 
YII. Stanley, 2 ; 



KnotTj 2 ; 
Marache, 1. 

LiCHTENHEIN, 3. 



Drawn, 2. 



Mr. Perrin and Mr. Lichtenhein thus reached the Second 
Section. Mr. Montgomery was unexpectedly called home, and 
was obliged to resign in the Second Section to Mr. Paulsen, 
the score standing Paulsen, 2 ; Montgomery, 0. In the same 
Section Mr. Morphy won his three games before his adver- 
sary. Judge Meek, had succeeded in scoring a single contest. 
In the Minor Tournament the first round was completed with 
the following result : 



I. DuNNmG, 3 ; 


Feldner, 0; 


Drawn, 1 


II. Mantin, 3 ; 


Mohle, 2. 




III. Frere, 0; 


JULIEN, 3. 




lY. Solomons, 3 ; 


Tobias, 0. 




V. Anderson, 3; 


HiGGINS, 0. 




YI. Dodge, 2; 


Miller, 3; 


Drawn, 1, 


YII. Horner, 3; 


Carples, ; 


" 1 


YIII. Stone, 2 ; 


Seebach, 3; 


" L 



The dinner of the Congress took place at the St. Denis 
Hotel, on the evening of Saturday the 1 7th. A full account 
of this pleasant chess festival is given in another place. 

October 19th. — This day the third week of the Congress be- 
gan. The Congress dinner, on the preceding Saturday, seemed 
to have invigorated the members, for the playing now proceeded 



The Period of the Congress. 83 

with renewed zeal. Tliere was no falling off in the attendance 
at the Rooms. Some faces, which had grown to be familiar 
during the early days of the Congress, were no longer visible, 
but new countenances were continually appearing to take their 
places. In the Second Section of the Grand Tournament Mr. 
Lichtenhein, having scored three games to Mr. Perrin's none, 
went over into the Third Section. The Congress was called 
to order at nine o'clock in the evening by the President, who 
stated that the first business in order w^as the consideration 
of the report of the Committee on a National Chess Associa- 
tion. After a thorough discussion of the articles of union, 
reported by the Committee, they were at length adopted. 
The vote having been taken the President announced, amid 
much applause, that the National Association was now a 
living fact, and that the Congress would proceed to the elec- 
tion of officers to serve until the -next Congress. Mr. Paul 
Morphy submitted the name of Colonel Charles D. Mead, of 
New York, for the Presidency, a nomination which was 
seconded by Mr. N. Marache. Judge Meek stated that he 
had also been requested by the players of Philadelphia to iput 
Colonel Mead in nomination, and that he deemed it essential 
for the interests of the national organization that the presid- 
ing officer should reside at a central point. Colonel Mead 
was thereupon unanimously elected President. In returning 
thanks Colonel Mead said, that he was fully sensible of the 
honor conferred upon him, especially when he saw himself 
surrounded by so many gentlemen better able to discharge 
the duties of the office than himself. But he would assure 
them that everything in his power should be done to promote 
the objects of the Association, and he was confident that, with 
the hearty co-operation of the clubs and amateurs of America, 
the most intellectual, the most moral, and the most fascinating 
of amusements, would be still further popularized. The fol- 
lowing distinguished amateurs, representing the four sections 
of the Union, were then unanimously elected Vice-Presidents : 
the Hon. A. B. Meek, of Alabama, Mr. George Hammond, of 



84 The Period of the Congress. 

Massachusetts, Mr. H. P. Montgomery, of Pennsylvania, and 
Mr. James Morgan, of Illinois. Mr. Lewis Elkin, of Phila- 
delphia, was elected Recording Secretary; Mr. Daniel W. 
Fiske, of New York, Corresponding Secretary ; and Mr. James 
Thompson, of New York, Treasurer. The appointment of a 
Committee on the Code and on Chess Notation was left to the 
chair, who named the same gentlemen who had previously 
served in that capacity. At the suggestion of Colonel Mead it 
was resolved that all communications which had been received 
relative to any alterations of the code and to the adoption of a 
new notation should be referred to this Committee. Mr. Fiske 
stated that the articles of the Association provided for the elec- 
tion of thirteen Honorary Members, who must all be foreigners, 
and have shown some interest in American chess. It was 
resolved to fill seven of these appointments, leaving the re- 
mainder to be filled by future Congresses. The following cele- 
brated European players and writers were accordingly chosen : 

Mr. J. LowENTHAL, of London, proposed by Mr. Fiske. 

Mr. H. Staunton, of London, proposed by Mr. Dunning. 

Mr. T. VON Heydebrandt und der Lasa, of Berlin, proposed by Col. 

Mead. 
Mr. Charles St. Amant, of Paris, proposed by Mr. Mohle. 
Mr. C. F. JiENiscH, of St. Petersburgh, proposed by Mr. Schultz. 
Mr. A. Anderssen, of Breslau, proposed by Mr. Fiske. 
Mr. G-EORGE Walker, of London, proposed by Judge Meek. 

On motion of Mr. Schultz it was resolved that a copy of the 
Book of the Congress be presented to each of the above-named 
gentlemen. Mr. Perrin, the Secretary of the New York Club, 
informed the Congress that he had received two communica- 
tions from Mr. Lowenthal, of London ; the first relating to the 
advisableness of always giving the first move, in published games, 
to the player of the white pieces, and the second containing a 
new analysis of the Pawn and Move opening. Both of these 
he was requested by their distinguished author to present to 
the Congress. A vote of thanks was given to Mr. Lowenthal 



The Period of the Congress. 85 

for his valuable communications. The President, Judge Meek, 
stated that he should be obliged to leave New York in a day 
or tvi^o and to yield the occupancy of the chair to the new 
President of the National Association. Mr. Dunning there- 
upon moved that the thanks of the Congress be tendered to 
Judge Meek for the very able and courteous manner in which 
he had fulfilled the duties of his office. This motion having 
been adopted, Judge Meek said that he cordially thanked the 
members for their adoption of the resolution. He had received 
a full reward for all his exertions in the pleasure he had expe- 
rienced while presiding over their deliberations ; and above all 
in the many delightful acquaintances which he had made 
among them. It had been his fortune to preside over many 
parliamentary bodies, but none of which he should retain such 
agreeable reminiscences as of this, and he hoped that he might 
hereafter enjoy other opportunities of uniting with them in 
furthering the cause and promoting the progress of chess. 
The Congress then adjourned, subject to the call of the 
President. 

October 20th. — This morning the drawing for the Second 
Section of the Minor Tournament took place, resulting in the 
following manner : 

I. Mr. M. Solomons against Mr. C. E. Anderson. 

II. Mr. M. Mantin " Mr. J. S. Dunning. 

III. Mr. W. Horner " Mr. D. Julien. 

lY. Mr. W. C. Miller " Mr. W. Seebaoh. 

In the Grand Tournament the First Section was at last con- 
cluded by Mr. Marache winning of Mr. Fiske, the score being 
Marache, 3 ; Fiske, 2. In the Second Section Mr. Raphael 
won one game of Mr. Marache. In the evening an event 
occurred, which was watched with much interest by the mem- 
bers of the Congress. Mr. Paulsen's sister, the wife of a phy- 
sician practising in New York, played two games of chess, first 
with Mr. Perrin and afterwards with Judge Meek, losing the 
former and winning the latter. This lady is believed to be the 



86 The Period of the Congress. 

strongest amateur of her sex in the country, and would cer- 
tainly be ranked as a first-rate in any chess club. Her style 
very much resembles that of her brother, with whom she has 
had considerable practice. 

October 21st, — In the afternoon of this day Mr. Paulsen 
commenced the unparalleled feat of playing five games at once 
without seeing any of the boards. His opponents were Mr, 
Thomas Frere, Mr. Robert J. Dodge, and Mr. S. Heilbuth of 
New York, Dr. A. C. Hawes of Providence, and Mr. C. 
Oscanyan from Constantinople. The announcement of such 
a performance drew together a crowd of distinguished men. 
Dr. Charles Mackay, the famous British poet, passed several 
hours in witnessing the games. Mr. Thalberg, the great 
pianist, was also an interested spectator. Among the other 
gentlemen present were the Hon. John Van Buren, son of the 
Ex-President ; Mr. Bryan, the second of Mr. Staunton in his 
celebrated match with Mr. St. Amant ; Mr. Richard Grant 
White, the most learned Shakespearian scholar on this side of 
the ocean ; Mr. Oliver Byrne, the widely known mathemati- 
cian ; Mr. W. H. Hurlburt, the distinguished author ; Judges 
Morton of Georgia, and Whiting of New York ; Mr. Walker*, 
the inventor of the American Chess Automaton ; the Reverend 
Doctors Seabury, Vinton, and Walton, and many other clergy- 
men ; together with several prominent citizens of New York, 
and a number of ofiicers of the army and navy. A number 
of ladies also attended. The general admiration of the won- 
derful mental power exhibited by Mr. Paulsen was loudly and 
frequently manifested. The arrangements in connexion with 
this affair, were the same as on the occasion when Mr. Paulsen 
played four games. At a late hour, the games not having been 
finished, it was decided to complete them the next evening. 
Mr. Paulsen, before leaving his seat on the platform, called off 
with great rapidity and exactness the positions of the men on 
all the boards in succession. 

October 22nd, — The drawing for the Third Section of the 
Grand Tournament took place to-day and resulted 



The Period of the Congress. 87 

I. Mr. Paul Morphy against Mr. Theodore Lichtenhein. 

r Mr. K Marache, 
11. Mr. Louis Paulsen " "\ ^^ 

( Dr. B. I. Eaphael. 



Mr. Morphy won to-day his first game of Mr. Lichtenhein. 
In the Second Section Mr. Marache and Dr. Raphael have each 
scored two games. In the evening Mr. Paulsen finished his 
admirable exhibition of blindfold play by winning of Mr. Frere, 
Mr. Heilbuth, Dr. Hawes, and Mr. Oscanyan, and by drawing 
the game with Mr. Dodge. This was the first authenticated 
instance in the history of chess, of so large a number of games 
being simultaneously played by one man without sight of the 
boards. The successful conclusion of this remarkable perform- 
ance was greeted with hearty applause by a large and appre- 
ciative assemblage of spectators. A number of gentlemen took 
the initiative in raising a subscription to present to the blind- 
fold player an appropriate testimonial of their admiration. 

October 23rd and 24:th. — ^The third week of the Congress 
terminated with Saturday the 24th. It had already been 
protracted to a much greater length of time than had been 
anticipated by the Committee of Management. This was due 
in a great measure to the peculiar situation of the players resi- 
dent in New York. They were, most of them, engaged in 
business avocations during the day, and they could conse- 
quently give only their evenings to the Tournaments. Mean- 
while there seemed to be no diminution of public interest in 
the Congress. It even appeared to increase as the contestants 
were reduced in number. By the end of the week Dr. 
Raphael had won three games to Mr. Marache's two and 
two drawn games, thus concluding the Second Section. In 
the Third Section Mr. Morphy had scored two games and Mr. 
Lichtenhein none, one being drawn. Mr. Paulsen had won 
two games of Dr. Raphael and one had been drawn. In the 
Minor Tournament the Second Section was brought to an end, 
the final score being 



88 The Period of the Congress. 

I. Solomons, 3 ; Anderson, 0. 

II. Mantin, 3 ; Dunning, 0. 

III. Horner, 3 ; Julien, 1. 

IV. Miller, 1 ; Seebach, 3. 

The drawing for the next or Thn*d Section opposed the fol- 
lowing players to each other : 

I. Mr. M. Solomons against Mr. M. Mantin. 
II. Mr. W. Horner " Mr. W. Seebach. 

October 26th^ 2'7th^ and 28th. — In the course of these three 
days the Third Section of the Grand Tournament was decided 
thus : 

I. MORPHY, 3 ; LiCHTENHEIN, J DrawH, 1. 

II. Paulsen, 3 ; Raphael, ; Drawn, 1. 

In accordance with the terms of the Prospectus Mr. 
Morphy and Mr. Paulsen, therefore, began to play for the 
first and second prizes, and Mr. Lichtenhein and Dr. Raphael 
for the third and fourth. In the Minor Tournament the result 
of the Third Section was 

I. Solomons, 3 ; Mantin, 0. 

II. Horner, 3 ; Seebach, 1 ; Drawn, 1. 

Mr. Solomons and Mr. Horner consequently proceeded to 
contend for the first and second prizes, and Mr. Mantin and 
Mr. Seebach for the third and fourth. 

October 29th^ SOth^ and Slst, — The close of the fourth week 
of the Congress found all the prizes decided except the first 
and second in each Tournament. In the Grand Tournament 
Mr. Morphy won two games of his opponent and drew the 
third. Mr. Lichtenhein won three games and Dr. Raphael 
none. In the minor contest Mr. Solomons and Mr. Horner 
each scored one game and one was drawn. Mr. Seebach won 
three successive games of Mr. Mantin. During these days 
two or three side Tournaments were arranged, of eight 



The Period of the Congress. 89 

players each, for sets of chessmen and boards. The amateurs 
present readily subscribed to these little trials of skill, and 
some of the games resulting from them were of considerable 
interest. Several excursion parties were formed during the 
latter days of the Congress (when so many of the players, 
having been thrown out of the Tournaments, had sufficient 
leisure to take part in them), and visits paid to the different 
objects of interest in the vicinity of New York. Among the 
visitors this week was Mr. Eugene B. Cook, of Hoboken, the 
distinguished problem composer, who although an invalid for 
many years still found strength to witness for a few days the 
exciting incidents occurring at the Congress. 

November 2nd — 1th, — The interest centred this week in 
the contest between Mr. Morphy and Mr. Paulsen. Several 
circumstances conduced to make this combat unusually re- 
markable. Neither of the contending players had lost a 
single game during the entire Tournament ; each had drawn 
one. Both were young men, and both gifted in a high degree 
with those mental characteristics which go to form the accom- 
plished chess-player. Both were known to possess the art of 
conducting more than one game at the same time without 
perceiving the boards. The rooms were more crowded than 
ever, and the daily press of New York, by elaborate reports 
of each day's progress, contributed to increase the attendance. 
One journal declared that "the difference between Mr. Morphy 
and Mr. Paulsen in their ordinary play, seems to be that be- 
tween genius and talent." Another curiously said: "Alto- 
gether the two are fair types, the one of the Celt, with the 
nervous force, originality, and imagination of the race ; the 
other of the Teuton, with its power of memory and reflection." 
This was intended to be an allusion to Mr. Morphy's Gallic 
descent. The Chess Monthly for December thus described 
their different styles : 

Mr. Morphy is bold and attacking, resembling in this particular the 
lamented M'Donnell ; Mr. Paulsen is cautious and defensive to a fault. 



90 The Period of the Congress. 

Mr. Morphy always met Pawn to King's fourth with Pawn to King s 
fourth ; Mr. Paulsen, when his adversary had the move, invariably 
played Pawn to Queen's Bishop's fourth. Mr. Morphy is rapid in his 
moves and quick in his combinations, his time on any move never 
having reached a quarter of an hour ; Mr. Paulsen is exceedingly slow, 
some of his moves having occupied more than an hour and several 
in succession having exceeded thirty minutes. 

Both Mr. Morphy, and Mr. Paulsen, possessed those virtues 
— not too common among great chess players — of modesty 
and courtesy. And it was a subject of gratification to every 
member of the Congress that no manifestation of rivalry, no 
exhibition of jealousy occurred on the part of either player 
to mar the pleasure with which their passages at arms were 
witnessed. Both were uniformly courteous and gentlemanly in 
their treatment of each other. This was also the case, though 
perhaps in a less marked degree, with the other players in 
the Tournaments. None of that bitter asperity which has 
distinguished other important chess assemblies was visible in 
this first American chess gathering. 

While Mr. Morphy and Mr. Paulsen were contending for 

the victor's wreath the Minor Tournament was brought to a 

close. Mr. Horner won the first prize, the score being, Horner 

5, Solomons 4, Drawn 2. It will be observed that these two 

fine players were very evenly matched, and their games 

developed some very pretty chess play. The side tournaments j 

were continued during this week. Among the amusements of 

the members were a number of so-called alternation games^ as jj 

many as twenty players sometimes taking part in one of these | 

practical chess jests. Nor did Mr. Morphy and Mr. Paulsen, i, 

after completing their daily game, hesitate to while away an j 

hour in the evening by yjarticipating in one of these laughable I 

battles. The blunders committed in these conjunctions of | 

strong players with w^eak ones w^ere a source of great merri- | 

ment. This method of playing chess is certainly not very | 

instructive, but as a recreation after severer chess labors it | 

... I 

may be worthy of commendation and occasional trial. If 

I 



The Period of the Congress. 91 

November ^th and lOth. — The combat between the two 
leading prize-bearers went on during these two days, and was 
finally completed on the morning of Tuesday the 10th. Mr. 
Morphy gained the first prize, having won five games. Mr. 
Paulsen, who scored one game, was, of course, entitled to the 
second prize. Two games were drawn. The playing in both 
Tournaments being thus completed, the Committee of Manage- 
ment held a meeting on the afternoon of the ninth of October, 
and resolved that the Congress should close by a formal 
presentation of prizes to the several victors on Wednesday 
evening November 1 1th. It was determined, in order that every 
lover of chess in the city might be able to witness this interest- 
ing ceremony, that the Rooms of the Congress should be 
thrown open to the public on this occasion, and that notices 
should be published in all the New York journals. 

November 11th. — In the evening, a large audience having 
assembled at the Rooms, Colonel Charles D. Mead, President 
of the American Chess Association, took the chair at eight 
o'clock. After expressing his regret that the Honorable A. 
B. Meek, the able presiding ofiicer of the Congress, was not 
present to award the prizes, Colonel Mead said : 

That the sessions of the National Chess Congress would this even- 
ing terminate. It was with pain that he announced this fact. To 
him it was a cause of sorrow that an occasion which had been so 
agreeable and full of interest should so soon be numbered among events 
passed away, not into oblivion, but to be ever retained among the 
pleasant memories of the past. It was another source of regret that 
many who had participated as members should have already returned 
to their homes, and that others would soon follow ; but a lively recollec- 
tion of each and all of them would long be preserved by those who 
remained behind. But, looking at the other side of the picture, it was 
a matter of great gratification to know that the first general chess 
assemblage of America had been so pre-eminently successful. Nothing 
had occurred to mar the design of those who had originated and con- 
ducted it through its long duration. Harmony had prevailed through- 
out. The intention of the originators of this gathering of chess-players 
from every part of the Union was to awaken an interest in the 



92 The Period of the Congress. 

noblest of all amusements and to promote its welfare. This object had 
been fully accomplished. Throughout the whole country the most 
favorable notice had been taken of their proceedings. The result 
would be that many new names will be enrolled among the devotees 
of Caissa, and that many will bring into use those faculties which have 
been so long dormant. Other Morphys and other Paulsens perhaps 
will come forth to gather laurels and add fresh interest to future Con- 
gresses. But the powerful aid received from the press of this city must 
not be forgotten. Without it, the proceedings of this Congress would 
scarcely have been known beyond the walls of the place of meeting. 
To it they were greatly indebted for the interest it had manifested in 
the undertaking, and for the faithful reports it had always given. 

The President then proceeded to read the following list of 
prize-bearers : 

GRAND TOUENAMENT. 

First Prize, — Mr. Paul Morphy, of New Orleans, La. 
Second Prize, — Mr. Louis Paulsen, of Dubuque, Iowa. 
Third Prize, — Mr. Theodore Lichtenhein, of New York City. 
Fourth Prize, — Dr. B. I. Raphael, of Louisville, Ky. 

MINOR TOURNAMENT. 

First Prize. — Mr. William Horner, of Brooklyn, L. I. 
Second Prize. — Mr. Moses Solomons, of New York City. 
Third Prize. — Mr. William Seebach, of New York City. 
Fourth Prize. — Mr. Martin Mantin, of New York City. 

Then turning to Mr. Morphy the President said: 

In dehvering to Mr. Morphy, the chief victor in the Grrand Tourna- 
ment, the first prize, consisting of a service of silver plate, I discharge 
a duty which I know meets with the cordial approbation of every mem- 
ber of this Congress. To none, I truly believe, is this act more gratify- 
ing than to those whom he has so gallantly vanquished. To none is it 
more agreeable than to myself to be the means of conveying to him that 
to which he has proven himself, by his superiority as a chess-player, to 
be justly entitled. 

The remaining prizes were then awarded, the President 
stating that the prizes for problems would be delivered as 



The Period of the Congress. 93 

sotrn as the Committee^ who had the competing positions in 
charge, had finished their labors. 

The service of plate, which formed the first prize, was then 
exhibited. It was manufactured to the order of the Com- 
mittee by Ball, Black & Co., of New York, and consisted of 
a silver pitcher, four goblets, and a salver. The latter bore 
the following inscription : 

This Service of Plate 

is presented to 

PAUL MORPH Y, 

The Victor in the Grand Tournament, 

at the first congress 

OF THE 

American National Chess Association, 
New York, 1857. 

Above this inscription was an admirable representation of 
Mr. Morphy and Mr. Paulsen seated at a chess-table playing. 
Both of the likenesses were excellent, having been copied from 
photograph by Brady. The pitcher and goblets bore the 
initials P. M. On the same table lay an elegant testimonial 
purchased for Mr. Paulsen, by a number of the members, as 
a token of the gratification with which they had witnessed his 
blindfold games. It was a medal of gold in the form of an 
American shield, having on the obverse a design representing 
Mr. Paulsen playing five simultaneous games without sight of 
the boards. The reverse bore this inscription 

Presented 

TO 

LO UIS PAULSEN, 

BY 

Members of the National Chess Congress. 
October, 1857. 



gj^ The Period of the Congress. 

After the distribution of the prizes .Mr. Morphy, who had 
been requested by the subscribers to perform this duty, pro- 
ceeded to present this elegant medal to Mr. Paulsen. Upon 
doing so Mr. Morphy said : 

Mr. Paulsen, in behalf of several members of the first National Chess 
Congress, I present you with this testimonial. If measured by the admi- 
ration it is meant to convey of our estimation of your wonderful bUnd- 
fold play it wiU not be deemed of little value. Sir, I claim you for 
the United States. Although not a native of A.merica, you have done 
more for the honor of American chess than her most gifted sons. Old 
Europe may boast of her Stauntons and Anderssens, her Harrwitzes 
and Lowenthals, her Der Lasas and Petrofifs ; it is the greater boast of 
America that the bhndfold chess of Paulsen has not yet been equalled. 
What if Labourdonnais played two, Philidor three, and Kieseritzky 
four games at one time ? We have in our midst one whose amuse- 
ment it is to play five, and who will soon fulfil his promise of playing 
seven blindfold games of chess simultaneously. We fling our proud 
defiance across the v^raters. Come one, come all! Let the super- 
human feats of our Paulsen be performed v^ith equal success by the 
much-vaunted European chess knights ! Let the much and deservedly 
extolled Harrwitz enter the lists ! We challenge him — we challenge 
all the magnates of the Old World. But, sir, your achievements need 
no commendation at my hands — they speak for themselves. And now, 
with a reiteration of our thanks for the many highly interesting enter- 
tainments you have so kindly given us, we beg you to accept this 
slight token of our admiration and gratitude. 

Mr. Paulsen received the gift from the hands of Mr. 
Morphy and replied as follows : 

The honor v^hich you have deigned to confer on me, in presenting 
to me such a beautiful and valuable present, is so great, that I only 
regret not being able to return my thanks in words sufiiciently expres- 
sive of the feelings of gratitude, appreciation, and pleasure, which move 
my heart at this moment. The pleasure which I have enjoyed at our 
recent campaign in fighting many a peaceful battle, and in making the 
acquaintance of the noble champion of our Congress, as weU as of 
other worthy and esteemed friends of Caissa — this pleasure is so great 



The Period of the Congress. 95 

that I do not hesitate a moment to mark these days as among the very 
happiest of my hfe. And ever afterward, when far from you, in the 
West of this broad country, where Providence has secured me a home, 
the remembrance of these days will be to me a source of joy and 
pleasure. Once more, sir, let me express to you my sincere and heart- 
felt gratitude. 

Colonel Mead, after reminding the members of the neces- 
sity of supporting the American Chess Association, then pro- 
nounced the first National Chess Congress of the United 
States finally adjourned. 
3 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE DINNER OF THE CONGRESS. 

In accordance with the time-honored custom of all chess 
assemblages it was determined to have a festive gathering of 
the members of the Chess Congress. In order to allow seve- 
ral amateurs from a distance, who were desirous of returning 
home as early as possible, to participate, the dinner of the Con- 
gress was fixed to take place on the evening of Saturday the 
iTth of October. The locality selected was the St. Denis 
Hotel, whose proprietor Mr. Denis Julien had long been 
known to the chess world for his ingenuity in the composition 
of problems and for his active efforts on many occasions to 
promote the cause of chess. Accordingly, at the time and 
place mentioned a large number of chess-players sat down to 
such a dinner as the high reputation of the hotel would natu- 
rally lead them to anticipate. The dining-hall was most appro- 
priately decorated, emblems of the game and the names of its 
leading ornaments meeting the sight at every turn. The table 
itself was weighty with chess adornments. In glittering con- 
fectionery appeared a temple of Caissa, and a monument to 
the memory of Philidor. There were statues of Franklin in 
ice. Kings, Queens, and Knights in jelly. Bishops, Castles, and 
Pawns in cream, and huge cakes in the shape of chess-boards. 
The bill of fare was certainly unique. It was neatly printed, 
headed by an elegant representation of a board and men, and 
containing such curious dishes as " Filets de boeuf a la Meek- 
Mead," " Dindonneaux au Congres," " Bastion de Gibier a la 



The Dinner of the Congress. 97 

Palam^de," " Charti*euse de Perdrix a I'Echiquier," " Vol-au- 
Vent de Cervelles a la Paulsen," " Pommes de Terre a la 
McDonnell," '' Gateaux a la Julien," " Pudding a la Franklin," 
and a hundred similar singular specimens of culinary chess. It 
is needless to state how much better the " Cotelettes d'Agneau 
a la Bilguer " tasted than simple lamb-chops. Judge Meek 
presided at the head of the table, ably assisted by Colonel Mead. 
After partaking of all the delicacies enumerated in the bill of 
fare, the members gave themselves with a zest to those social 
enjoyments which make after-dinners so pleasant. The cloth 
having been removed. Colonel Mead, in a happy speech, pro- 
posed the health of Judge Meek, who responded as follows : 

It is not often at chess, that I complain of having the first move^ 
but at the present time and under such flattering circumstances I can 
scarcely deem it an advantage, for it necessarily places me in a crowded 
position^ and forces me to adopt a close rather than a hrilliant style of 
play. Still, acknowledging gracefully the full honor of the odds 
allowed me, I must say that this is to me an occasion of deep and pecu- 
liar interest. It has been my fortune, in a life of much social expe- 
rience and adventure, to participate in many pleasant festive gatherings ; 
but this superadds to the ordinary charms of convivial intercourse, 
attractive features never presented before. It is the " crowning rose " 
in the flowery incidents of the past two weeks. A Chess Congress, a 
Chess Tournament, and now a Chess Dinner, are hereby occasions of 
marked and novel delight to the lovers of ^' the noble game." They 
constitute an era in the social history of our country, for unquestiona- 
bly the character and progress of their amusements are, in no small 
degree, an index of the intellectual and moral development of a peo- 
ple. They show the quality and direction of their tastes and seuti- 
ments. 

What the patriot patron-fathers of our fraternity so anxiously desired 
has to some extent been realized in this country. This convocation 
of chess magnates from all portions of our Union, is an evidence of 
the wide diffusion of our favorite game among the American people. 
Here, at the call so laudably sent forth from the New York Club, have 
assembled the disciples of Philidor from every section of our wide and 
flourishing Republic. They have come, with fraternal impulses, from 
the auroral hills of New England, the rich regions of the middle States, 

5 



98 The Dinner of the Congress. 

the flowery prairies of the inimitable West, and from my own golden 
and sunny section, where the blue waves of the Grulf of Mexico swell 
up a constant choral symphony with the music of our national Union. 
They came together as strangers, but they have met as brothers 
and friends. The ^' hooks of steel" that have here been linked are a 
pleasing commentary upon the character of our pursuit. Ties of con- 
genial taste and sympathy have been established, which will ever be 
cherished among the most pleasing connexions of life, and must exert 
no insensible influence in eradicating sectional prejudices, and uniting 
each and every part of the country, like the separate squares of the 
chess-board, in one harmonious whole." 

After alluding to the financial crisis, Mr. Meek continued : 

But I prefer dealing with the more pleasant associations of this 
occasion. This is no Egyptian feast, and we will remove the skull 
from the board. A band of brothers, we now meet in cheerful mood 
around the altar which our host of the St. Denis — a true PhiHdorean 
problem himself — has so tastefully and artistically decorated. Here he 
has fashioned all his most graceful patisseries into the images and 
implements of our own craft. To solve these felicitous devices is cer- 
tainly more easy and agreeable than to unravel the ingenious two-move 
and three-move puzzles and enigmas with which he has perplexed our 
modern searchers into Sphinxean mysteries. For the pleasure thus ; 
given us, as well as for the other delightful associations of our Congress ' 
and Tournament, I must reiterate my indebtedness to the New York : 
Club, its able and efficient Committee of Management, and its accom- 
plished, intellectual, and courteous president, Colonel Mead. To him 
and to them have I been especially indebted for innumerable kind- 
nesses. And here, I may remark, that I have everywhere found that 
there is among chess-players a species of Freemasonry, which welcomes 
every player, no matter how much a stranger, with a cordial greeting, 
and introduces him at once to most intimate and delightful associa- 
tions. This I particularly found upon my first visit to the city of 
New York. 

Here Judge Meek narrated several interesting and amusing 
anecdotes of his first acquaintance with the chess circles oi 
New York, which, as they were of a personal nature, ar( 
omitted at his request. He then concluded as follows : 



I 



The Dinner of the Congress. 99 

But I linger too long over these personal allusions. " A winking- 
spirit " from the glasses before me cries check to my move^ and warns 
me to beware or I may make a stale. I therefore conclude with an 
expression of my gratification at the auspicious prospect opened for 
chess in the United States by the establishment of our National Chess 
Association. Our players have evinced in the Tournament that they 
possess skill and science equal to the masters of the Old World ; and 
ere long, beside the classic names of Staunton, and Anderssen, and Der 
Lasa, and St. Amant, and Lowenthal, the Muse of Cai'ssa will delight 
to register those of Morphy, and Paulsen, and Stanley, and Mont- 
gomery, and Lichtenhein, and Mead, and Hammond, and others who 
have nobly won green chaplets by their '' doughty deeds " in the 
embattled lists of chess, and on the mosaic pavement which she so 
proudly treads. 

Reverting to our debts of gratitude, I propose the following senti- 
ment : 

" The New York Ohess Cluhj distinguished ahke for its Philidorean 
skill and its (7/ie5terfieldian courtesy and hospitality. May it long 
retain the noble meed of merit which it now possesses." 

This address, which was received with marked pleasure and 
enthusiasm, called forth a response from Colonel Mead, who, 
after some eloquent remarks by way of introduction, said, 

That it gave him great pleasure to speak a word in behalf of the 
New York Chess Club. He had been its President for several years, 
and of his own knowledge he could testify to its moral and intellectual 
character. He referred to the great interest he had always felt in the 
advancement of the game. He thanked those present for the cordial 
manner in which they had received the toast offered by the President 
of the Congress. He then spoke of chess in a social point of view, and 
gave the results of his own experience — that for more than a quarter 
of a century he had come in contact with many thousand chess-players, 
both in his own country and in Europe — that he had met as his oppo- 
nents the prince as well as the peasant, and he could truly say that he 
had never met with but one person to whom he could not extend the 
right hand of fellowship and greet as a brother. He further spoke 
of the refining influence of the game, and concluded by gracefully allud- 
ing to the distinguished chess-player and gentleman from New Orleans, 
and proposed — 



100 The Dinner of the Congress. 

" The health of Mr. Paul Morphy, the refined gentleman, the 
accomplished scholar, and the master chess-player." 

Mr. Morphy responded : 

Mr. President and G-entlemen of the Congress, — I sincerely thank 
you. To one, to all, I tender the expression of my warm and heartfelt 
acknowledgments. Much, however, as I feel honored, I must be per- 
mitted to see in this gathering of chess celebrities something more than 
a tribute to merit, whether real or supposed. G-entlemen, we have 
come together for a noble purpose ; we meet at this festive board to 
rejoice at the success of a grand undertaking. G-reat, truly great, is the 
occasion. For the first time in the annals of American Chess, a Con- 
gress is being held which bids fair to mark an era in the history of our 
noble game. Chess, hitherto viewed by our countrymen in the light 
of a mere amusement, assumes at last its appropriate place among the 
sciences which at once adorn and exalt the intellect. We have met 
this night to hail the dawn of a true appreciation of its manifold claims I 
to regard. And, gentlemen, may we not cherish the hope that this, j 
the first great national gathering of the votaries of Caissa, may prove \ 
but the forerunner of many yet to come ? Should time realize this j 
fond anticipation, to you, gentlemen of the New York Club, will belong i 
the praise of having taken the lead in the glorious cause. You have. If 
in political phrase, set the ball in motion. From the New York Club j 
— from the altar where you worship — has gone forth the first note of I 
praise, destined soon to swell into a mighty anthem to the achievements I 
of our kingly pastime. I exult to think that the Chess warriors of the I 
Crescent City will catch a spark of the enthusiasm of the New York \ 
amateurs; that gallant Southern spears, too long idle, will again be f 
couched, and jousts as brilliant as that of '45 be witnessed once more. | 

But, gentlemen of the Chess Congress, I perceive that I too far tax ! 
your patience. I avail myself of the opportunity presented to tender 
to each and every one of you the assurance of my deep indebtedness 
for the more than kind manner in which I have been welcomed to 
New York. I propose, in conclusion, 

" The Chess Editors of New Yorh Their labors have materially con- 
tributed to the spread of our noble and intellectual game." 

Upon the announcement of this toast, Mr. W. J. A. Fuller, 
so long the unrivalled editor of the chess department oi Frank 



The Dinner of the Congress. loi 

Leslie* s Illustrated Newspaper^ was generally called for. He 
arose and replied in a lengthy and elaborate address. Among 
other things he said : 

Mr. President and G-entlemen, — It is not my purpose to speak at 
any length of chess abstractly. As an intellectual and gentlemanly 
amusement, as a discipline for the mind, as a solace for the cares and 
ills of this troublous world, and as a source of solid instruction and 
rational enjoyment, it more than fills the office ascribed to letters by 
Cicero, in his celebrated oration, Pro Archia Poeta^ and that is so pecu- 
liarly appropriate to Chess that I must ask permission to quote it, even 
at the risk of being charged with pedantry : ^Hcec studia adolescentiam 
alunt, senectutem ohledant^ secundas res ornant^ adversis perfugium ac 
solatium' jprcebentj deledant domi^ non impediunt foris^ pernodant nohis- 
cum^ peregrinantur^ rusticaniur.^ Had Cicero written this sentence with 
direct reference to chess, he could not have come nearer to the truth. 

Chess fills up the interstices of thought and action as nothing else 
in this world can. When engaged in the intricacies of a complicated 
position, where a beautiful combination is formed, Avhat care we for 
the compressed iron lips of banks ? What care we whether money be 
worth seven per cent, a month or seven per cent, a year ? 

" The world forgetting, and by the world forgot," 

we are wholly oblivious of care and anxiety, and totally regardless 
whether the morrow will bring its usual labor of ^\ shinning " to prepare 
against three o'clock. But why dilate upon the advantages and the 
glories of chess ? The plummet of no human intellect can ever fathom 
it, the power of mathematics cannot compute its infinite variations and 
combinations, the verse of the poet cannot sing its beauties, and to 
depict its merits might well challenge the utmost efforts of the most 
gifted pen or the most eloquent tongue. 

The First National Chess Congress has been a perfect success, and 
the New York Club has covered itself with honor from the inception 
to the final consummation of so great an enterprise. Whether in 
generalities or in details, everything has been complete. For this we 
have been mainly indebted to Colonel Mead, the worthy and popular 
President of the Club; to Mr. Perrin, the "veteran Secretary;" and 
to the other gentlemen composing the Committee of Management. 
We owe them much — and for myself, I take this public occasion to 
thank them cordially in the name and behalf of the whole fraternity 



102 The Dinner of the Congress. 

of chess-players. Nothing has occurred to mar the unity and harmony 
of our proceedings, and I can only express the hope that every future 
gathering of the kind may be made under as happy auspices, and con- 
duce to as pleasant results. 

There is a sympathy about chess which can be understood only 
by the initiated. It is always an amusement at home and an introduc- 
tion abroad. It brings into friendly conjunction and social intercourse 
persons as opposite as the antipodes. 

Mr. Fuller then related several personal reminiscences and 
experiences, at home and abroad, in illustration of this posi- 
tion, and we regret that their extreme length precludes their 
publication. 

But to return to the subject under more immediate and legitimate 
consideration. Our Congress would challenge the admiration of the 
world for all coming time, had it no other remarkable feature than the 
exhibition of powers that almost surpass belief, and sometimes really 
seem to stagger the evidence of the senses. Of course, I will be under- 
stood as referring to the blindfold playing of our friend, Mr. Paulsen, 
who comes to us from the broad prairies of the West, more than a 
thousand miles distant, to participate in this Tournament and bear off 
one of the leading prizes. Such a psychological phenomenon, in my 
judgment, the world has never before seen, and how to account for it 
is beyond my comprehension. I have heard various hypotheses ad- 
vanced, and have a theory of my own in regard to it, but nothing 
entirely satisfactory. I suppose if Mr. Paulsen himself were asked to 
explain it, he would reply in precisely the language of Mrs. Siddons, 
when questioned by Hannah Moore and other pious ladies of the 
strait-laced school, who once paid her a formal visit. "Tell us," 
said they, "how you produce such wonderful effects? Is it by 
real or simulated paission ? Is it by the perfection of art, or the 
abandonment of nature?" and other queries of a similar purport. "I 
really can't say," naively replied the queen of tragedy. " I only know 
I play as well as I can." So of Mr. Paulsen. He " plays as well as he 
can." and that is well enough to beat almost any of us, with eyes open 
or shut. 

But what shall I say of the crowning excellence and glory of the 
Congress — the wonderful playing of our "young Philidor ?" No, I am 
wrong ; for though I believe I was the first to give him that appella- 



The Dinner of the Congress. 103 

tion, yet it is a misnomer. Philidor but shadowed forth the mightier 
chess genius which it was reserved for America to produce, in the per- 
son of our young friend, Paul Morphy, in whom we all take such 
national pride. He verifies the truth of the poet's hne : 

" Westward the star of Empire takes its way." 

He charms us no less by his quiet, unobtrusive deportment, modest 
and refined nature, gentlemanly courtesy, elegant manners, and genial 
companionship, than by his wondrous skill at our noble game. 
Thoroughly conversant with all the openings and endings, he shows 
that he has laid every writer under contribution to increase his stock 
of ^^ book knowledge ;" but it is his own matchless genius which 
embraces and enlarges them all, that wins the victory, and that enables 
us, as we intend to do^ to challenge the world to produce his peer. He 
reminds us of the noble river on whose banks he lives, which, gather- 
ing in its course the contributions of various tributary streams, pours 
at last its own current into the ocean, deep, clear, and irresistible. 

To praise chess is to paint the lily and to gild refined gold. Even 
as the sordid and mean of soul shrink earthward on being touched by 
the sunlike spear of Ithuriel, so does chess purify from grosser essence 
that social circle which it permeates ; and, Mr. President, no extrava- 
gance of language can be employed in extoUing the game. Chess will 
exert a beneficial sway while the mind of man craves instruction and 
intellectual amusement; and so long as the brilliancy of M'Donnell 
and Labourdonnais shall charm, so long as the solidity and strength of 
Philidor shall delight, so long as the analyses of Jsenisch, Yon der 
Lasa, and Staunton shall instruct, so long as the wondrous power of our 
own Paulsen, and the matchless genius of our native Morphy shall 
make men admire, so long will chess exert a power in the world, and 
that will be until time has no longer any concern with man, nor man 
with literature. In conclusion, I ask the members to drink the health 
of one to whom they are greatly indebted for the idea of the Congress 
— of one who is well and widely known both in the field of literature 
and the field of chess — Mr. Daniel W. Fiske. 

The applause which followed Mr. Fuller's remarks having 
subsided, Mr. Fiske said : 

I congratulate you, gentlemen, upon having witnessed the dawn 



104 '^^^ Dinner of the Congress. 

of a new day in American chess. The movement whose inception 
we have so successfully promoted will, I believe, produce all the fair 
results we so fondly anticipate. The number of amateurs in our 
country will rapidly increase ; clubs will be formed in every town ; 
chess columns will be estabhshed in every literary weekly, and chess 
books will be issued by the American press. I love to contemplate the 
benefits which posterity will derive from our labors. I love to imagine, 
as commencing with this Congress, a long and splendid chapter in the 
history of chess. We shall have on this side of the water chess con- 
tests worthy to be classed with the deeds of our transatlantic prede- 
cessors. We shall have glorious and gallant combats between some 
McDonnell of the North and some Labourdonnais of the South, — 
between some Stamma of the Eastern States and some Philidor from 
beyond the Mississippi ; nay, why not between some American Staun- 
ton and some European St. Amant? In short, we shall soon behold, 
growing up and occurring in our midst events and incidents similar 
to those which gem, like diamonds of never-fading beauty, the pages 
of the Old World chronicle of chess. 

But, while we watch, with feelings of pleasure and pride, the 
rapid progress of chess in America, we must not forget to honor those 
great men, living and dead, who have preceded us, and to whom we 
are so largely indebted. I should occupy too much time if I were 
to mention even a few of those various individuals and schools which 
have made large additions to the literature and practice of the royal 
sport. I cannot, however, refrain from reminding you of the labors of 
Germany. For the last twenty years no nation has done so much for 
the cause we love. From the famous Berlin school, as a centre, the 
beneficial influence of a new style of chess has radiated to the farthest 
confines of the earth — a style of which the distinguished characteristics 
are careful study and cautious analysis, and whose originators have built 
upon this sure and safe basis a superstructure of elegance and brilliancy 
beyond all praise. Many of those distinguished men who lived in the 
Prussian capital, and made the decade from 1837 to 1847 a memorable 
chess epoch, have passed away. Bilguer, the youthful and promising 
genius, Hanstein, the solid player, and Bledow, the lover of chess let- 
ters, are no more. But among the few still living, there is one, the 
mention of whose name will wake a warm response in the heart of 
every chess reader. As invincible as a player as he is learned as a 
writer, his fame will be one of the very brightest stars in the chess litera- 
ture of the nineteenth century. He was among the foremost in found- 



The Dinner of the Congress. 105 

ing and supporting the Berlin school, and his life ever since has been 
passed in devotion to chess. Wherever his diplomatic duties have 
called him — v^^hether to Yienna, Stockholm, Brussels, or the Hague — 
his first inquiry has been for chess clubs ; his first labor to ransack 
the hbraries for rare chess books and rare chess manuscripts. The 
pages of the Grerman Schachzeitung and several separate publications 
attest the soundness of his learning and the depth of his research. 
Other persons have profited by his toil, other authors have derived 
advantage from his labors, but he has always been too modest and too 
unselfish to complain. His name will have occurred to your minds 
before it passes my lips. I ask you, gentlemen, to unite with me in 
drinking the health of the erudite and indefatigable writer, the mas- 
terly and classical player, the faithful and honest chronicler, the true 
and modest gentleman, Heydebrandt von der Lasa." 

Mr. Lichtenhein responded : 

He said that he was glad to see the services rendered to chess by 
distinguished Germans so generally acknowledged. There was no 
doubt that for analytical labors we were especially indebted to the 
Teutonic mind. But he hoped that the fusion now going on in this 
country, between the German and Enghsh races, would result in form- 
ing an American style which should unite the soundness of a Yon der 
Lasa with the brilliancy of a Cochrane. 

In conclusion Mr. Lichtenhein begged leave to toast The 
Press, 

This was followed by brief speeches from several representa- 
tives of the city journals. 

Mr. Julien, by birth a native of France, responded to the 
memory of the great Gallic trio, Philidor, Deschapelies, and 
Labourdonnais. He said : 

I receive your call with thanks, but it places me under great embar- 
rassment, because custom obHges me to reply. On such occasions, 
whether the orator be a Demosthenes or a blockhead, he must make 
a little speech. So, gentlemen, I will do my best and make a few 
remarks en jpassant. I take it for granted that it is not necessary here 
to speak in pure English, for the language of chess is cosmopolite, and 
the flag of Philidor is not altogether the tri-color, but it is composed 

5* 



io6 The Dinner of the Congress. 

of sixty-four squares — twice the number of stars on the flag of Hberty. 
While I acknowledge the obligations which the Congress owes to 
members of the press, I must notice a slight error which one of them 
committed. Some years ago, an English lady — a school-teacher and a 
blue-stocking — ^landed in France; the first woman she met was old 
and ugly, and she straightway wrote in her note-book '' the female popu- 
lation of France is old and ugly !" It was the same with that reporter, 
who, on entering the Rooms of the Congress, met three gentlemen with 
bald heads, and at once concluded that nobody could play chess without 
that quahty. He would undoubtedly have drawn a different inference 
had Mr. Morphy or Mr. Paulsen been present. Much has been said 
about the morahty of Chess. Example is better than precept. I have 
remarked that since the New York Chess Club has been in the habit of 
holding its meetings at the St. Denis Hotel the only Hquor consumed has 
gone down the throat of my bar-tender ; and, gentlemen, believe my 
word, that barkeeper is not a chess-player. 

Mr. Julien's observations were loudly cheered, and were 
followed by the following elegant song, written for the occa- 
sion by Mr. Julien himself and distributed in a printed shape 
among the guests. It was sung by Mr. Marache, who enjoys 
a wide and well-merited reputation for musical ability. 

COUPLETS CHANT^S AU DmER DU CONQRES DES fiCHECS 

Le 15 OCTOBRE 1857. 



NEW YORK. 



1 

Sur cet heureux rivage, 
Par vos calculs savants, 
Vous presentez I'image 
Des combats innocents. 
Caissa qui vous inspire 
A battu le rappel : 
Buvons a son empire 



Air : Partant pour la Syrie. 

2 



A 



Pendant cet intermede, 

Apres tant de travaux, 

Soldats de Palamede 

Cessez d'etre rivaux; 

De I'ebene et I'ivoire 

Suivons I'antique loi : 

Buvons a la victoire ) 
BIS. I T^„ ri^n .^ _ ^ . )■ BIS. 



Son regne est immortal. S ' i Du Cid de ce tournoi, 



The Dinner of the Congress. 107 



Parmi tous vos modeles, 
Oh ! n'oubliez jamais : 
McDonnell, Deschapelles, 
Lopez, Labourdonnais ; 
Sur deux tombes unies 
Ma voix vous dit encor : 
Buvons a deux genies ) 
Legal et Pliilidor ! ) 



BIS. 



mes compagnons d'armes, 
J'attends votre concours, 
Pour un toast plein de charmes 
Yenez a mon secours. 
Pour qu'un refrain sonore 
Eclate de vos rangs : 
Buvons, buvons encore 
A nos deux presidents ! 

D.J. 






Mr. Thompson then followed in a humorous and sparkling 
speech. It is to be regretted that no notes of his remarks 
were preserved, for it was certainly one of the most entertaining 
productions of the evening. It was full of the genial humor 
of the man, and contained a multitude of laughable allusions 
to the characteristic traits of prominent players. Mr. Thomp- 
son also related a number of anecdotes of his chess life in 
New York. 

After he sat down Mr. Stanley's health was proposed and 
that gentleman replied. Among other things he stated that 
all regretted the absence of Mr. Paulsen. But Mr. Stanley 
suggested that as that gentleman could play chess without 
seeing the board, he had no doubt that Mr. Paulsen had the 
power of partaking of this dinner without seeing the table, and 
he was probably thus exercising his peculiar psychological 
genius in some lonely chamber and enjoying the entertainment 
with as much zest as any present. This novel apology was 
received with repeated rounds of applause. 

Mr. Stanley was followed by Mr. F. Perrin, the Secretary 
of the New York Club, who was in turn succeeded by 
Mr. Dodge, who kept the table in a roar for nearly half-an- 
hour. 

The following song, written for the occasion by Judge 
Meek, was then distributed among the guests, and was very 
happily sung by Dr. Raphael and Mr. Dodge. 



io8 The Dinner of the Congress. 



SONG. 

BY THE HON. A. B. MEEK OF ALABAMA. 

Air : Hunters of Kentucky, 

Ye champions of the checkered field, 

Who love the lists of glory ; 
Who wield not falchion, spear, nor shield, 

Yet battle con amove : 
Now lay aside your deeds of pride 

For sportive song and sally. 
And 'round this hoard where wine is poured, 

In festive greetings rally ! 

Ye oft have mingled in the fray. 

Where Kings and Queens contended, 
And joined with Knights in fierce array, 

'Eound Castles long defended ; 
Stern Bishops too, hke Eichelieu, 

There hurried o'er the dying ; 
Now meet you here with jest and cheer, 

Where only corks are flying ! 

As chiefs of might, in ancient days. 

At Tournaments collected. 
And proved their prowess 'neath the blaze 

From Beauty's eyes reflected. 
So now your corps, renowned of yore. 

Has held a gallant muster, 
Where each, if not a Philidor^ 

Has proved a Fillibuster I 

Yours is a loved and royal sport. 

In every nation nourished ; 
In camp and castle, cot and court. 

For ages it has flourished ; 
E'en Adam found, in Eden's ground. 

No rapture — it is stated — • 
No spell to check sad sorrow's wreck, 

Till he by Eve was mated ! 



The Dinner of the Congress. 109 

Great names are yours, remembered well, 

By many a household fire, 
La Bourdonnais and Deschapelles, 

McDonnell and AUgaier ! 
And later days may Lewis praise, 

And Staunton's glories utter. 
With Anderssen, Petroff, and Szen, 

And Cochrane of Calcutta I 

Fair France, amid her verdant vines, 

Has St. Amant, to grace her, 
And G-erniany triumphant shines 

With Harrwitz and Der Lasa I 
Amid them all stands Lowenthal, 

The victor at Manchester ; 
We well might guess that he at chess, 

Would make a mighty chess stir ! 

Rich blows the breeze beyond the seas, 

Amid the chestnut bowers. 
But now the dawn comes smiling on 

This western world of ours I 
Our Congress grave, in high conclave, 

Has spread a glorious standard. 
Whose checkered bars, like Freedom's stars, 

Shall Hght Columbia's vanguard I 

Then fill the cup with bright wine up, 

And toast our noble pastime ; 
The Tournament " has come and went," 

May it not prove the last time I 
May chess arise beneath these skies, 

With prouder deeds elated ; 
On Freedom's deck, receive no cheeky 

And never be stale-mated ! 

Mr. A. Perrin, in responding to a toast to the living players 
of England and France, said that he had just returned from 
those countries and had enjoyed an opportunity of contending, 
at large odds of course, with the famous men of London and 
Paris. He hoped that the defeats he had undergone would be 



no The Dinner of the Congress. j 

fully revenged whenever Mr. Morphy visited the Old World. 
Mr. Perrin then made some interesting and elaborate reflec- 
tions concerning the morality of chess. He had noticed the 
freedom from immoral habits among chess-players. He dilated 
on the advantages which would accrue to the young from its 
study, and offered the following sentiment, which accurately 
represented the influence of the game : 

" The noUe Game of ChesSj the king of intellectual sports. Full of 
instructive emblems, rich in invigorating mental exercise, may it serve 
at once to lure our youth from the haunts of vice, and to train them to 
purposes of elevated usefulness." 

Mr. Frere then spoke and offered the following sentiment : 

" The Brotherhood of ChesSj as its origin is untraceable, may its exist- j 
ence be everlasting." 

The " Health of Mr. Rousseau and the players of the South" 
having been drunk, Mr. Morphy replied. 

Dr. Raphael of Kentucky replied to the toast of " Chess in 
the West." 

Mr. Marache, Mr. Dunning, Mr. Edge, Mr. Heilbuth, Mr. 
Oscanyan, and others, entertained the company with speeches 
of various length until, at last, the hour of midnight being 
close at hand, the members retired to their homes. Thus 
ended one of the most pleasant and agreeable festivals ever 
held in honor of Caissa. 



CHAPTER V. 

REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE CHESS CODE. 

To THE First National Chess Congress of America, now in session 
IN the City of New York, the Special Committee on the Chess 
Code beg leave respectfully to Report, — 

That, after mature deliberation, they have come to the con- 
clusion, that they would best perform the duty imposed upon 
them, viz. that of " enabling the members of the Congress to 
arrive at a more ready understanding of the questions pre- 
sented " in reference to " the revision of the Chess Laws," by 
presenting a statement of what has thus far been effected by 
the movement in the same direction, which is now going on in 
Europe. From such statement, they trust that the Congress 
will be enabled to determine, in what way to co-operate with 
that movement, in order to secure the object which was origi- 
nally aimed at . . . viz. the enactment, by an authority that 
will command respect, of a uniform Chess Code. To secure 
accuracy, the Committee have consulted the proper foreign 
periodicals, and have carefully read such of the proposed 
codes as have been printed. They have also endeavored . . . 
but, up to this moment, without success ... to obtain authen- 
tic information of any action that may have been taken at 
the recent meeting of the English Chess Association, on the 
Revised Code, prepared by Mr. Staunton. 

The particular movement, with which your co-operation is 



1 1 2 Reports and Communications. 

suggested, took its rise from the failure of the earUer attempt, 
in 1851, to form a " Constituent Assembly for remodelling the 
Laws of Chess " from the body of players, that should be pre- 
sent at the London Tournament. The wish for a revision of 
the Chess Laws had already been strongly expressed, both in 
the Berlin Schachzeitung (in which had appeared the ablest 
discussions on various points of chess legislation), and by Mr. 
Staunton . . . who, in his Handbook^ expressed the hope that 
the leading authorities in Europe would soon unite for the 
purpose of abolishing "the several crude collections of ambi- 
guities, which are now received as the ' Laws of Chess,' and 
to establish in their stead one general and comprehensive 
code." When Mr. Staunton published the games of the 
Tournament, in March, 1852, he stated more at length what he 
considered to be the " anomalies and absurdities" of the exist- 
ing laws. Again, in May, 1853, at a meeting of the ^' North- 
ern and Midland Counties Association," Mr. Staunton for- 
mally presented the subject of a revision of the Chess Code ; 
and the result of the discussion which ensued, was the adop- 
tion of a resolution, " That Mr. Staunton be requested to put 
himself in communication with Major Jsenisch, of Russia, and 
Mr. Heydebrandt the most distinguished chess-authors of the 
continent, to induce them to co-operate with him in drawing 
up a code of chess laws for general adoption, to be reported 
on at the next meeting of the Association." , 

Both of the great continental authorities, whose co-operation 
was so courteously invited, responded to the appeal with a 
promptitude that bore witness both to the completeness of 
their learning and to their forwardness to advance the interests 
of the game. Mr. Von Heydebrand und der Lasa was at that 
time residing at the capital of Belgium as Secretary of the 
Prussian Legation. By November of the same year, he was 
able to transmit the most important portion of his work to 
Major Jsenisch. In December he completed his " Scheme of 
a complete body of chess laws," with an ample commentary 
{Entwurf eines voUstdndigen Beglementsfur das Schachspiel)^ 



Reports and Communications. 113 

which was inserted at length in the Berlin Schaehzeitimg for 
February, 1854, and communicated to Mr. Staunton in a pri- 
vate separate impression. 

The Russian theorist was already engaged in a work of the 
same kind before he had been appealed to from England. In 
May, 1853, a chess-club had been instituted at St. Petersburg, 
and Major Jaenisch had been appointed to report a code of 
Laws. He now presented his work, with the view of making 
the Laws of the St. Petersburg Club a model of what he 
would recommend for general adoption, and presented a 
Report, in which the laws themselves were accompanied by 
a body of JSTotes, wherein the changes proposed were discussed 
with characteristic calmness and thoroughness. The club, 
while provisionally adopting the Rules reported (with one 
exception), ordered the entire Report, as presented, to be 
printed (^^ Megles du Jeu des Echecs adoptees par la Societe 
des Amateurs d"^ Echecs de St. Petershourg comme base d^un 
code universel de ce Jeu^'')^ and to be transmitted to the 
principal chess authorities of Europe, with a view to invite 
their opinion on each article ... a course by which they 
believed they should best advance the work of securing, at 
last, a Chess Code for universal adoption. The Rules were not 
only in this way extensively distributed in the original French 
— a German translation of them (but without the Notes) was 
printed in the Berliia Schachzeitung for July, 1854. The 
statement may here be made by anticipation, that since Major 
Jsenisch had been obliged to insert some provisions, in his 
reported Rules, which his own judgment did not approve as 
features of a model code, and since his own judgment had 
undergone some change on other points, he afterwards pre- 
pared a second edition of the Rules ... or rather, perhaps, a 
new work . . . not reported for any particular society, but 
presented for general adoption, to which he gave the same 
title as that which had been adopted by Mr. Von der Lasa 
for his scheme. This new work of Major Jaonisch's was 
printed at length in German, with all its Notes, in the June, 



114 Reports and Communications. 

July, October, and November numbers of the Berlin Schach- 
zeitung^ for 1856. 

The Committee deem it important, before proceeding with 
their historical statement, to give some general account of 
these two proposed Codes . . . those of Major Jaenisch and 
of Mr. Von der Lasa. These two great authors, who are 
both equally characterized by the patient laboriousness and 
sincere love of truth with which they have pursued their inves- 
tigations, in this instance differ widely in some of the rules 
which they recommend. This difference in the result arises 
entirely from a difference of judgment with respect to what 
should be presented in such a code as they were invited to 
propose. Major Jsenisch approaches his work in the spirit 
of a man of science, who aims to present a system of law, 
which he believes to be theoretically and historically correct 
. . . the true laws of chess as ascertained by the more ancient 
or more numerous authorities, or by a consideration of the 
constituent principles and spirit of the game. Mr. Von der 
Lasa, on the other hand, appears more as the practical man. 
Equally learned . . . equally disposed to enter into all histori- 
cal investigations and theoretical disquisitions, he still keeps 
his eye upon the object proposed by the English resolution : 
- — he considers what is likely to be so approved by European 
chess-players as to be " generally adopted." Major Jaenisch 
inserts nothing in his scheme, which his own judgment does 
not approve. Mr. Von der Lasa deliberately adopts several 
features, which he considers theoretically erroneous, because 
he believes himself to be in the minority in holding them to 
be so ; and is conservative enough to find nothing in the 
current code so anomalous or so absurd, that it might not 
with perfect propriety be retained, if only all agree to retain 
it. The scientific learning of the Russian theorist leads him 
to distinguish carefully the Laws of Chess from the Rules for 
the conduct of players, and to exclude from his code what 
belongs rather to the institutes or elements of the game. Mr. 
Von der Lasa, on the other hand, reproduces whatever is 



Reports and Communications. 1 1 5 

usually found in such collections, and does not think it worth 
while to aim at any scientific arrangement of a few rules, 
which have only a limited practical aim. Both are agreed, 
however, in endeavoring to give greater precision of expression 
to laws which have been considered ambiguous, to complete 
them where not sufiiciently comprehensive, and to add such 
new provisions as have been called for by a change of circum- 
stances ... by the greater frequency of matches, and of games 
played in consultation and by correspondence. Both agree in 
the opinion, that to take the Pawn en passant is optional or 
facultative only when there remains some other legal move ; 
and they have consequently made the law express that 
opinion ... so far as the St. Petersburg Rules are concerned. 
Both agree in forbidding the player, who gives the odds of 
the Queen's liook, to castle on the Queen's side. Both agree 
in enacting that a Pawn, on reaching the royal line, must be 
immediately made a Piece, and may be made any Piece, 
whether it double a Piece still on the board, or not. 

The two authors differ on several points. Major Jgenisch, 
believing the Italian passar iattaglia to be more consistent 
with the spirit of chess, proposes, in his later Scheme and in 
the JSTotes of the St. Petersburg Rules, to enact, that every 
Pawn, for its first move, may advance two squares, without 
incurring the liability of being taken en passant, Mr. Von 
der Lasa would sanction no innovation, on this point, upon 
the uniform law of all Europe without the Alps. Major 
Jsenisch, again, in his aversion to all penalties for touching 
without moving, false moves, and the like, by which the par- 
ticular game may take a shape totally at variance with the 
intention of one of the players, expels from his code the 
penalty of moving the King. To the suggestion that a false 
move may often be made fraudulently, he answers (substan- 
tially) that chess is played among gentlemen ; and that the 
appropriate penalty for a fraud of the kind is expulsion from 
the room. Mr. Von der Lasa retains the customary penalty. 
Major Jaenisch permits an error in setting up the pieces, or 



1)6 Reports and Communications. 

the like, to be corrected only before completing four moves. 
Mr. Von der Lasa gives the latitude of two moves more. 
The " fifty move rule" (so called) is retained by Mr. Von der 
Lasa, although he seems not to be in favor of it ; and he 
expresses himself distinctly opposed to permitting a recom- 
mencement of the counting upon the capture of a piece ; yet 
he inserts that permission in his Scheme, in deference to what 
he believes to be the opinion of the majority. Major Jsenisch 
makes it a '' sixty-move rule ;" but he does not permit a second 
beginning of the counting. Both agree in defining, with a 
precision which was before entirely wanting, under what 
circumstances the demand for counting the moves may be 
made. Such, without entering into imnecessary detail, is 
a cursory view of the general character and principal fea- 
tures of these two important documents . . . the value of 
which, however, can be only imperfectly understood without 
a knowledge of the literary research and acute argument, 
by which each change is explained and defended in the 
Notes. 

When Mr. Von der Lasa wrote the Preface to his Scheme, 
in December, 1853, three months after his meeting with Mr. 
Staunton at Brussels, he stated (upon the authority, no doubt, 
of Mr. Staunton), that the English projet was to be ready in 
the spring ; and the editors of the Berlin Schachzeitung gave 
notice, that they would present it in their journal, translated 
into German, as soon as it should appear. Accordingly, at 
the annual meeting of the same Northern and Midland 
Goicnties Association^ held at Liverpool, on the 23d and 24th 
of June, 1854, Mr. Staunton made report, that he had put 
himself into communication with Major Jienisch and Mr. Von 
Heydebrand und der Lasa, and that he had received from 
each of them an elaborate work, of singular value, on the 
Chess Code. He stated the peculiar characteristics of each 
scheme, and detailed minutely the changes which each author 
proposed to make. He did not report his own contribution, 
but informed the meeting that it would be ready during the 



Reports and Communications. 1 1 7 

year, and that it would be printed in a volume, along with 
those of his continental associates. 

In the year 1855, the same Association held its annual 
meeting at Leamington, in the month of June. Mr. Staunton 
now reported epitomized translations of Mr. Von der Lasa's 
Scheme and of Major Jsenisch's Rules^ and a Code of Laws 
prepared by himself, " which seemed " (in the language of the 
reporter) " to meet most, if not all, the difficulties of the case." 
Of these, three manuscript documents, Mr. Staunton's was read 
and discussed. . . . The reading of Major Jaenisch's and of 
Mr. Von der Lasa's was omitted, because "it would occupy 
some hours." A fourth Code was also presented by Mr. 
Ingelby of Birmingham. The report of what was prepared 
by Mr. Staunton is too imperfect to be relied upon for 
accurate information. The opinions, which he had already 
expressed in the introduction to the Chess Tournament^ and 
which he is reported to have expressed in his speeches of 
1853 and 1855, appear to have been, in the main, coincident 
with those of Mr. Von der Lasa, whose recommendations and 
reasonings were, in fact, precisely such as to commend them- 
selves to the English mind. The result of the discussion 
which followed the reading of the English documents, was the 
adoption of a resolution to refer Mr. Staunton's alterations to 
a Committee of four, consisting of the Rev. Mr. Wayte, Mr. 
Ingelby, Mr. Tomlinson (the well-known chess author), and 
the accomplished Hungarian, Herr Lowenthal, with instruc- 
tions 'Ho report a copy of the revised Laws at the next 
meeting of the Association, for discussion and sanction, with 
a view to their being published in a new edition of Mr. 
Staunton's Handbook^ as the most practical measure for the 
improvement of Chess." . . . The meeting of the Association, 
which was to have been held in 1856, at Birmingham, was 
postponed until August of the present year, that it might be 
held, under more favorable circumstances, in connexion with 
the "Exhibition of Art-Treasures." The circular of the 
General Committee (as it is found in the Berlin Schachzeitimg) 



1 1 8 Reports and Communications. 

announced, that the expected Report of the above-named 
Committee would be presented, for final action, at this meeting. 
No account of any action of this kind, however, has appeared 
in the Illustrated London News / and the Congress will, no 
doubt, be perfectly safe in assuming, that either the Committee 
made no report, or that no final action was taken upon it. 
Meanwhile it has just been learned, from very recent informa- 
tion, that the second Scheme of Major Jsenisch's .... that which 
appeared in 1856 .... has been adopted by the St. Petersburg 
Club as its code. 

It is at such a state of the movement for establishing " one 
general and comprehensive code" of Chess Law for " general 
adoption," that the question presents itself to the American 
Chess Congress, Whether^ and in what mamier^ they will 
attempt to co-operate in that movement with their European 
brethren f Your Committee believe that such co-operation is 
desirable, that it would be highly opportune and efiective, — 
and that it would be particularly acceptable. Letters from 
Major Jsenisch and Mr. Von der Lasa, and notices of Mr. 
Staunton, express great satisfaction at the interest which the 
subject has excited in this country, and at the prospect of some 
formal action on our part. The Committee think such action 
desirable, because of an apparent tendency in the European 
movement to become rather national than European . . . 
rather insular than continental. There is thus some ground 
for apprehension, that the result may be the establishment of 
much improved codes, indeed, each having the unity and 
symmetry of the Italian system . . . but each difierent from 
the other. There may be an English code, having strong 
afiinities with a German one, but still difierent from it ; there 
may be a St. Petersburg system, with the passar hattaglia 
of the Italians, but with the castling alia calabrista of the ultra- 
montane " barbarians." That such nationality may triumph 
would seem to be proved by the recent news from Russia, 
unless the adoption of Major Jaenisch's second code has 
been merely provisional, as was the case with his former 



Reports and Communications. 119 

" Rules." The Committee cannot conceal their fears, that in 
England, also, from which the work, in its most cosmopolitan 
aspect, received its first impulse, the movement has become 
more insular than could be wished. The cause of this ten- 
dency lies, most probably, in the entire absence of any organ, 
wherein to make known to English amateurs what might have 
kept alive their sympathy with the unabated enthusiasm of 
Mr. Staunton and the steady zeal of his continental coadjutors. 
Soon after the first step taken at the Manchester meeting of 
1853, the Chess Players'^ Chronicle passed out of Mr. Staun- 
ton's hands, and did not long survive the separation. The 
Palamlde^ which had formerly been read extensively in 
England, was no longer in existence. The Berlin Schach- 
zeitung had, indeed, survived the blows under which its 
fellows had expired, and it still continued to publish precisely 
what was needed to help the good cause . . . the original 
documents, reviews of them, and discussions of the points 
raised by them ; but unfortunately the Schachzeitung is 
" written in a tongue not understanded of the people," and 
has exerted little or no influence out of Germany. The 
English amateurs, necessarily ignorant of the disquisitions of 
their foreign brethren, destitute of the facilities for publish- 
ing to any purpose even the codes of the three associated 

authors, finding nothing in any chess periodical left them 

beyond a game and a problem, appear to have sunk, almost 
of necessity, into that " indiiference" of which Mr. Staunton 
has more than once complained. In this spirit, no active 
measures were taken to prosecute the work to efiect, — ^no 
order was given to print and distribute documents ... no com- 
munication was made to foreign authorities ; and, at last, the 
cosmopolitan movement of 1853, in favor of a uniform code 
" for general adoption " descended to the Leamington resolu- 
tion to adopt, without further extra-English reference, an 
English code to be printed in an English Handhooh^ " as the 
most practical measure for the improvement of chess." It is 
fortunate, that the action contemplated by this resolution has 



120 Reports and Communications. 

not been consummated, and that there is still room for Ameri- 
can amateurs to offer their co-operation, in order to revive the 
old interest in the movement and to restore it to the high 
cosmopolitan character, which was first given it by the great 
English player. That such co-operation may be as effectual 
as it would be opportune, the Committee firmly believe. 

As to the manner of the co-operation, the Committee would 
respectfully recommend, in the first instance, that no decided 
expression of opinion be yet made, in favor of either one of 
the three schemes proposed, even if accurate information 
should be received, before the adjournment of the Congress, 
concerning the changes recommended by Mr. Staunton . . . 
not even if Ms code should be found to be substantially coin- 
cident with either of the two others. Such action on our part, 
amounting as it would, in practice, to the adoption of a par- 
ticular code, before proper measures had been taken to make 
it universal, would only confirm the existing tendency, which 
our co-operation should rather aim to counteract. In the 
second place, the Committee recommend the appointment of 
a Committee on the Chess Code^ by the authority either of 
this Congress, or of such American Chess Associatio7i as may 
be formed at this Congress, whose duty it shall be, — to enter 
into communication with Mr. Staunton, Major Jsenisch, and 
Mr. Von der Lasa, in reference to the revision of the laws of 
chess, — to endeavor to establish a similar correspondence 
with other eminent chess authorities in other countries, — to 
consider thoroughly such revised codes as have been, or may 
be, proposed, — and to report the result of their correspon- 
dence and of their consideration of the subject to the Congress, 
or to the Association (as the case may be), at their next meet- 
ing. It is further suggested, that it be recommended to pub- 
lish in the Chess Monthly sufficient abstracts of the pro- 
posed codes of Major Jsenisch and of Mr. Von der Lasa, and 
also of Mr. Staunton's, if to be obtained, together with the 
reasons given by these authors for the provisions recommended 
by them ; — and that both the members of the Committee and 



Reports and Communications. 121 

other chess writers, foreign or American, be recommended 
and invited to contribute to the same periodical original dis- 
cussions of the questions which are raised by the proposed 
revision. It would be within the competency of the Commit- 
tee so instructed, to embrace in their Report a Code of Chess 
Law, if it should be found desirable to present the result of 
their labors in that form. 

In the prospectus of the London Tournament of 1851, it was 
intimated, that the revision of the Chess Code would be 
accompanied by " the establishment of a uniform system of 
Notation for the whole chess community ;" and in the Pre- 
face to the Rules of the St. Petersburg Club, Major Jsenisch 
strongly urges, that a uniform Chess Code should be equally 
yoked with a uniform chess language. The subject of Chess 
Notation might, therefore, with great propriety, be embraced 
in the reference to the above-named Committee. 
All which is respectfully submitted. 

(By order of the Committee,) 

George Allen, Chairman, 

September 80th, 185T. 



The Committee on the Chess Code have opened their 
Report, in order to add the interesting statement, that imme- 
diately after it had been adopted and closed, a most courteous 
and obliging letter was received by the Chairman, from Mr. 
Staunton, containing the information, that a proof of his pro- 
posed Code had been sent to a friend in this country, for 
which he requested the Chairman to apply. 

Tuesday Evening, Od, Qth, 
This proof has just come to hand, through the kind attention 
of Mr. Eugene B. Cook, to whom it had been originally trans- 
mitted. It forms a small volume of sixty-three post-octavo 
pages. An hour's hasty examination, although, of course, in 
other respects unsatisfactory, has abundantly satisfied the Com- 
mittee that the work is such as was to have been expected from 

6 



122 Reports and Communications. 

an author of great powers and enlarged experience, assisted by 
treatises so carefully prepared as those of the two continental 
writers. Upon the whole, the Committee have not been dis- 
appointed in their anticipation of Mr. Staunton's probable 
leaning : — in most instances, his judgment accords rather 
with the German than the Russian author, while in some cases 
he differs from both, and everywhere gives evidence of an 
independent command of the entire subject. Like Mr. Von 
der Lasa, he prefixes a chapter on the fundamental laws of the 
game, the powers and moves of the pieces, etc. Against his 
own conviction, he agrees with his colleagues in enacting that 
taking the pawn, en passant^ becomes a forced move when 
no other is possible.* He does not assent to " the extreme 
leniency" of Major Jsenisch in reference to penalties for false 
moves, nor can he consent, with Mr. Von der Lasa, " to legal- 
ise what is illegal," but prefers to re-enact the old rule, by 
which 2i false move is a lost move. He retains the penalty of 
moving the king. The text of his code contains the " fifty- 
move rule," but he rather inclines, in his notes, to Major 
Jsenisch's extension to sixty moves. It is rather singular that 
in the introduction to the Chess Tournament^ Mr. Staunton 
pretty distinctly intimates his opinion, that the spirit of the 
fifty-move law permits the party, which has the King and Rook 
against the King and Bishop, to claim a re-commencement 
of the counting on capturing the Bishop at the forty-ninth 
move ; but now that Mr. Von der Lasa, against his own con- 
victions, and in deference, perhaps, to the opinion thus 
expressed, had inserted the privilege to begin the counting 
again, Mr. Staunton has found Major Jsenisch's to be the 
sounder doctrine. He sees no reason for extending the lati- 
tude for correcting an error in setting up the pieces, etc., to 
the sixth move. His sections on correspondence and consul- 
tation games are fuller than those of either of his colleagues. 
The proposition, which was first suggested in England, to 



* It is perhaps needless to add that he lends no support to Major Jsenisch'a 
recommendation of the passar hattaglia. 






Reports and Communications. 123 

limit the duration of a game to two hours on each side and to 
measure the time consumed on each move by a sand-glass, was 
favored by Major Jgenisch at first, but since abandoned by 
him. Mr. Staunton proposes to adopt it. These provisions, 
with many details, which it would be out of place to enume- 
rate here, are discussed, in copious notes, with great acute- 
ness and constant reference to the earlier authorities as well 
as to the arguments of the two continental writers. The 
number and perplexing character of the questions thus pre- 
sented confirm the Committee in their opinion, that no intelli- 
gent judgment could be formed upon them from such consi- 
deration as could be given them, during the present session of 
the Congress. 

KEPOET OF THE COMMITTEE ON A NATIONAL 
ASSOCIATION. 

TO THE PRESIDENT, SECRETARY, AND MEMBERS OF THE CHESS CONGRESS. 

The establishment of a permanent national organization of 
players and lovers of chess would, in the opinion of the Com- 
mittee, meet a want long felt, and assist in a greater degree 
than any other project whatever in rapidly diflTusing a more 
general taste for the game among our countrymen. Such an 
institution is especially desirable in the United States. In 
England, France, and Germany, where the large cities all lie 
within a few hours' travel of each other, the members of the 
various clubs have frequent opportunities of interchanging 
courtesies and testing one another's skill over the board. In 
our own country, however, such opportunities are of necessity 
comparatively rare. It is only by having some central point 
of assemblage, some special season of festivity, some national 
and general occasion of a re-union, that the mutual acquaint- 
ance of players, and a satisfactory trial of their respective 
abilities, can be brought about. A well organized body of this 
kind, with the annual dues placed at so lovv^ a rate as to enable 
every chess-player to inscribe his name upon its book, could, 



124 Reports and Communications. 

in various other ways, aid the advancement of chess. It 
might encourage the establishment of clubs, assist in the pub- 
lication of chess books and chess journals, favor the introduc- 
tion of chess departments into the various literary weeklies, 
and help to bring into notice unknown but promising problem 
composers. Your Committee, therefore, would heartily recom- 
mend, as the proper crowning labor of the Congress, the 
organization of a National Chess Association, similar in design 
and character to the Chess Association of Great Britain and 
Ireland; and would propose, for the government of the 
association, the following 

ARTICLES. 

I. This organization shall be known as the American Chess 
Association. 

II. Its officers shall be a President, four Yice-Presidents, Kecording 
and Corresponding Secretaries, and Treasurer, elected at each Congress, 
and holding their office until the following one, or until their successors 
are chosen, and acting together they shall form a general Committee 
of Management, with power to supply vacancies in their own number. 
The Secretaries of all the regularly organized Chess Clubs in the United 
States shall form a general Committee of Correspondence. 

III. The Congress of the Association shall be held as often as once 
in three years, in some one of the large cities. The time and locality 
for each Congress shall be determined by the Committee on Corres- 
pondence, and the arrangements shall then be perfected and carried 
out by a local managing Committee, to be appointed by the club or 
clubs in the city where such Congress is to convene. 

IV. The annual dues shall be one dollar from each member, and 
three dollars from each club, payable in the month of January. 

Y. Foreign honorary members, consisting of distinguished players 
and writers, who have manifested an interest in American chess, may 
be elected, but the entire number shall never exceed thirteen. 

YI. These articles shall be retro-active, so as to constitute the 
present the first Congress of the American Chess Association. 

A. E. G-ALLATiN, Ghairman, 

New York, Odoher 10th, 1857. 



Reports and Communications. 



125 



COMMUISriCATION FROM MR. J. LOWENTHAL. 

[The following interesting and valuable analytical article was accompanied 
by a letter to the Secretary of the Congress, in which the distinguished author 
said that being at too great a distance to attend the gathering, he was 
desirous of evincing in some other way his warm interest in the great 
American movement. He therefore presented to the Congress a new analysis 
of the Pawn and Move Opening, together with some illustrative games. This 
manifestation of sympathy from so eminent a source was received with hearty 
gratification by the members of the Congress.] 



THE PAWN AND MOVE OPENING. 



'// XX y/Zy 



^^p^p 



'Wi^ 



i 



11 



"^//////T//. Y//////A7a^ "yy/////////.^ '////////>//, ^ 














m mm, 'mm.,. 



^,^/J j^^^ ^^^ ^ 4^A J-"^ 4^A 






SI 



V/yTTTT^/A ^'f7^:'y7?*A '^^^/T/A ^^^^"^=^ 9^'/////////. 



c d 



t = Check. 
: = Takes. 
:f = Takes checking. 



— o = Castles with K. R. 
o — — o = Castles with Q. R. 
X — Mate. 



126 Reports and Communications. 

The best mode of conducting the game of the second player 
m the Pawn and Move Opening is one of the most difficult 
problems of chess. Its difficulty arises not only from its own 
nature, but also from the fact that the odds of Pawn and 
Move are given, not to tyros, but to players of considerable 
power. For example, Petroff gives these odds to the eminent 
analyst JaBnisch, and Mr. Staunton has given them to players 
of high standing and acknowledged reputation. In such hands 
the attack is easy enough. The first player, besides the advan- 
tage of a pawn, has the power of developing his game, whilst 
the second player is checked and cramped in his movements 
by the necessity of being continually on his guard. My object 
is to suggest what appears to me to be the best line of de- 
fence. I am not presumptuous enough to suppose that the 
mode I recommend will lead to a certain remise ; the certainty 
of that is possibly unattainable, but I merely submit the moves 
indicated to the chess players of America, leaving it to them 
to decide whether or not they are more advantageous than 
those hitherto adopted. Little has been done of late years 
to develop the interesting features of the Pawn and Move 
game, and to exhaust the modes of attack and defence. I, 
therefore, in the first place venture some remarks on the more 
recent discoveries, and a comparison of them with the moves 
formerly adopted by great players. 

When the first player opens with 1. e2 — e4 Black has four 
recognised defences at his disposal, namely I. Kt b8 — c6, 
II. e7— e6. III. Kt g8— h6 and IV. c7— c5. In the first line 
of defence, Kt b8 — c6, I would recommend a mode of pro- 
ceeding for the attack varying from that given in the Com- 
panion. That work (see Chess Player^s Companion^ p. 470) 
gives the following moves. 

1. e2— e4 Kt bS— c6 

2. d2— d4 d7— d5 

3. e4— e5 

This is no doubt a good move, but the following, given in 



Reports and Communications. 127 

The Era^ some time ago, will be found to give White an 
infinitely superior game : 

1. e2-~e4 Kt b8— c6 

2. d2— d4 d7— d5 

3. B fl— b5 e7— e6 

4. Q dl— h5t 

This move is given by Sarratt. 

4 g7— g6 

5. Q h5— e5 Kt g8— f6 

Black could scarcely venture to give up the Rook by playing 
K e8— f7. For suppose K eS— f7 ; 6. Q e5— hS :, Kt gS— f6 ; 
7. Kt bl— c3, Q dS— d7 (best, for if Q dS— e7 White's reply 
is 8. B cl — g5 or 8. Kt. gl — f3, enabling him to liberate 
the Queen). 8. B b5 — c6:, b7— c6: ; 9. Kt gl — f3, with a 
winning position. Should Black, for his fifth move, play Q 
d8 — f6, instead of Kt g8 — f6. White would win by the fol- 
lowing : Q d8— f6 ; 6. Q e5— c7:, Kt g8~e7 (best) ; 7. Kt 
gl— f3, d5— e4: (if B c8— d7, 8. B cl— g5, Q f6— g7 ; 9. 
B g5— e7:, Q g7— e7:; 10. B b5— c6: etc.) 8. Kt fS— e5, 
with an irresistible attack. I return now to the main game. 

6. B cl— g5 B f8— e7 

If K e8— f7; then 7. B b5— c6:, b7— c6:; 8. B g5— f6:, Q d8— f6:; 
Q e5 — c7: etc. 

7. e4 — d5: a7 — a6 

8. d5— c6: a6— b5: 

9. c6— b7: 

and wins a piece. 

The following line of attack, which, however, I consider 
inferior to the above, has also been given in The Era : 

1. e2— e4 Kt b8— c6 

2. d2— d4 d7— d5 

3. Ktbl— c3 d5— e4: 

4. d4— d5 Kt c6— e5 

5. B cl— f4 Kt e5— g6 

6. B f4— g3 a7— a6 

7. Kt e3— e4: etc. 



128 Reports and Communications. 

I am of the opinion that if Black adopts as his first move 
either Kt b8 — c6, e7 — e6, Kt g8-— h6 or c7 — c5, he will have 
great difficulty in bringing out his pieces. Analyses of these j 
moves will be found in the Chess Player^s Companion^ pp. 
470-490. 

I will now proceed to point out a line of play which I con- 
sider more calculated to enable Black to develope his forces, 
and one which necessitates great nicety of play on the part of 
White, to retain the advantage of the odds given. 

1. e2— e4 d7— d6 

2. d2— d4 e7— e5 

This move has never been made before, because it appeared 
obvious that if White captured the Pawn, Black could not re- 
take without serious consequences. One move, however, was 
left unnoticed, namely, Q d8 — e7, and this leads to a more 
satisfactory defence than any hitherto adopted. 

3. d4— e5: 

White may also play 3. Kt gl — f3 and 3. d4 — d5, which I 
shall examine respectively, under variations A and B. 

3 QdS— e7 

4. Kt gl— fB 

White has two other moves at his disposal, for which see 
variations C and D. 

4 d6— e5: 

5. Ktbl— c3 

If 5. B fl— c4, B c8— e6; 6. Kt f6--e5:, B e6-~c4:, 7. Kt e5 
— -c4: Q e7— e4:t; 8. Q dl— e2, Q e4— e2:t etc. 

5 B c8— g4 

6. B fl— c4 c2— c3 

7. o— Ktb8— d7 

and considering the odds given Black's game is a tolerably 
good one. 

A. 

3. Ktgl--f3 



Reports and Communications. 129 

This is the correct move to enable the first player to main- 
tain his position. 

3 e5— d4: 

B c8 — g4 is an apparently good move, but it loses a second 
Pawn, thus: 4. d4 — e5:, Q d8 — e7, 5. Q dl — d5 etc. 

4. Kt fB— d4: Kt g8— f6 

5. Kt bl— c3 c7— c6 

To play c7 — c5 would be bad, on account of 6. B fl — ^b5f, 
K eS— f7 (best, for if B c8— d7, 7. Kt d4— e6, Q d8— b6 ; 
8. Kt c3— a4, Q be— a5f ; 9. B cl— d2, and wins). 7. B fl 
— c4f , and Black has a bad game. 

6. Bfl— c4 Bc8— d7 

Black dare not play b7 — h5. Suppose b7 — b5 ; 8. Kt d4 
— b5:, d6— do (best, for if c6— b5: ; 9. B c4— d5, Kt f6— d5: ; 
10. Q dl— h5f, g7— g6; 11. Q h5— d5: etc.). 9. B c4— b3, 
c6 — h5:i 11. e4 — e5, and regains the piece with the better 
game. 

7. — c6 — c5 

And so on. It follows that although White, with the best 

play, must have the superior position, yet Black's game is a 

better one than he would have obtained by the other lines of 

defence. 

B. 

3. d4— d5 

This is not a good move, as it shuts out the White Bishop 
at fl, one of the most important pieces in the game. 

3 Kt gS— f6 

4. B cl— g5 B fB— e7 

Or Kt b8 — d7, followed by o — o, and White has no attack. 

C. 

4. e5— d6: Q e7— e4:t 

5. Q dl— e2 Q e4— e2:t 

6. B fl— e2: B f8— d6: 

And Black has an open game. 

6* 



130 Reports and Communications. 

D. 

4. Ktbl— c3 d6— e5: 

5. Kt c3— d5 Q e7— d6 

It would not be good play to move the Queen to fz, as in 
that case White would reply with 6. B fl — c4, and if Black 
then answers B c8 — e6, White takes the Pawn c7f and wins 
a Pawn. 

6. B fl— c4 

K 6. f2— f4, then Black plays c7— c6. 

6 c7— c6 

followed by Q d6 — dl: and White has no attack. 

By way of summing up this analysis, I may remark, that in 
the different variations, with one exception, Black obtains a 
free game, and an unquestionably better position than results 
from any other line of defence. In actual play, of course, this 
attack may be varied ; but I have convinced myself, by re- 
peated experiments, of the superiority of the above method 
of conducting the game on the part of the second player. In 
confirmation of that view, I beg to submit the accompanying 
games with various players. 



I 



I take the opportunity of adding another mode of defence ; 
although it is inferior to that already given, yet as it has not 
been mentioned by others, nor, as far as I am aware, adopted 
in actual play, it may, perhaps, be deemed worthy of notice. 



1. e2 e4: 


d7— d6 


2. d2— d4 


B c8— e6 


3. Q dl— h5t 





This is the only move, as any other would allow Black to 
plant his Bishop at f7 and render his game safe. 

3 g7— g6 

This is much better than to interpose the Bishop. 



Reports and Communications. 



13^ 



4. Q h5— b5t B e6~d7 

5. Q b5-~b7: Kt b8— c6 

Black has now sacrificed another Pawn, but he has two 
pieces in play, and White must be very careful not to en- 
danger the Queen. The following indicates the line of play 
best calculated to enable White to maintain his advantage. 

6. c2— c3 



Best, for if 6. Kt gl- 

— b4 ; 8. Q a6— e2, d6- 
bl— a3, Q dS— d5: etc. 



-f3, R aS— bS ; T. Q b7— a6, Kt c6 
-d5 ; 9. e4— d5:, B d7— f5 ; 10. Kt 



6. 

7. 



d4— d5 
B el— g5 



. e7— e5 
Kt c6— e7 



with an attacking game, and leaving Black without any com- 
pensation for the sacrifice of the Pawn. 



ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES. 
In playing over these games remove the Pawn f 7. 

GAME THE FIRST. 





Mr. V. Green. 


Mr. J. Low 


enthal. 




Mr. V. Green. 


Mr. J. Lowenthal. 


1. 


e2— e4 


d7- 


-d6 


16. 


R d6— e6t 


K e8— d7 


2. 


d2— d4 


e7- 


-e5 


17. 


R hi— dlt 


K d7— c7 


3. 


d4--e5: 


Q d8- 


-e7 


18. 


g2-g3 


R d8 dl:t 


4. 


Kt gl— f 3 


d6- 


-e5: 


19. 


K cl— dl: 


Kt b6— d7 


5. 


Kt bl— c3 


c7- 


-c6 


20. 


f2— f4 


Kt d7— c5 


6. 


B fl— c4 


B c8- 


_g4 


21. 


f4-f5 


Kt c5— e6: 


7. 


h2— h3 


B g4- 


-fS: 


22. 


B b3— e6: 


Kt g6— f 8 


8. 


Q dl— f3: 


Q e7- 


-f6 


23. 


B e6— c4 


b7— b5 


9. 


Q f3-g4 


Ktb8- 


-d7 


24. 


B c4 d3 


Kt f 8— d7 


10. 


B el— g5 


Q f6- 


-gQ 


25. 


g3-g4 


h7— h6 


11. 


— — 


Ktd7- 


-b6 


26. 


Kt c3— e2 


K c7— d6 


12. 


B c4 b3 


B fS- 


-e7 


27. 


Kt e2— g3 


K d6— e7 


13. 


B g5— e7: 


KtgS- 


-e7: 


28. 


b2— b3 


R h8 dS 


14. 


Q g4-g6: 


Kt e7- 


-g6: 


29. 


K dl e2 


K e7— f7 


15. 


R dl— d6 


R aS- 


-d8 


30. 


K e2 e3 


Ktd7— f6 



132 

Mr 

31. B 

32. B 
33. 

34. Kt 

35. Kt 

36. Kt 

37. Kt 
38. 
39 

40. B 

41. Kt 

42. K 

43. K 

44. K 

45. K 

46. Kt 

47. Kt 

48. K 



Reports and Communications. 



'. Green. 

d3— e2 
e2— d3 
c2— c4 
g3— e2 
e2— g3 
g3— e2 
e2— cl 
h3— h4 
h4— h5 
d3— c2 
cl— d3 
e3— f3 
f3-g3 
g3-f3 
f3— e3 
d3— b2 
b2— d3 
e3— f3 



Mr. Loweiithal. 

B d8— d4 

a7 — a6 

b5— b4 

R d4— d8 

Kt f 6— d7 

Kt d7— c5 

K f7— f6 

g7— g5 

K f6— e7 

a6 — a5 

Kt c5— d7 

c6— c5 

K e7— d6 

Kt d7— b6 

a5 — a4 

a4 — a3 

Ktb6— d7 

Kt d7— b8 



Mr. Green. 



49. Kt d3— cl 

50. Kt cl— e2 

51. K f3— e3 

52. B c2— d3 

53. B d3— c2 

54. B c2-~d3 

55. B d3— c2 

56. Kt e2— cl 

57. Kt cl— d3 

58. K e3— f3 

59. B c2— d3: 

60. 3 d3— c2 

61. K f3— g4 

62. B c2— dl 

63. B dl— f3 

64. K g4— h5 

65. K h5— h6: 
And Mr. G-reen 



Mr. Lowenthal. 

Kt b8— c6 
K d6— e7 
R d8— d7 
Kt c6— a5 
Kt a5— b7 
Ktb7— d6 
Kt d6— e8 
Kt e8— f 6 
Kt f 6— g4:t 
R d7— d3:t 
Kt g4— f 6 
Kt f 6— h5: 
Kt h5— f 4 
K e7— f6 
Kt f 4— d3 
Kt d3— cl 
Kt cl— a2: 



I 



resigns. 



GAME THE SECOND. 



Mr. Green. 

1. e2— e4 

2. d2— d4 

3. d4— e5: 

4. Ktbl— c3 

5. Kt c3— d5 

6. f2— f4 

7. Q dl— h5t 

8. f4— e5: 

9. e5— d6: 

10. e4— e5 

11. B fl— b5t 

12. c2— c3 



Mr. Lowenthal. 

d7— d6 
e7 — e5 

Q d8— e7 
d6— e5: 

Q e7— d6 
c7— c6 
g7— g6 
g6— h5: 
c6— d5: 

B c8— f5 

Kt b8— c6 
O — — o 



Mr. Green. 



13. Kt 

14. B 
15. 

16. B 

17. Kt 

18. R 

19. Kt 

20. R 

21. Kt 

22. R 

23. R 



gl-f3 
cl — g5 

— 

g5— h6: 
f3— d4 
fl— f2 
d4— e6 
al— fl 
e6— d4 
f2— f8t 
fl— f8:t 



Mr. Lowenthal. 
B f5— e4 
R d8— e8 
B f8— h6 
Kt g8— li6: 
R e8— g8 
Kt c6— e5: 
R g8— g6 
Kt h6— f 5 
Kt f 5— d6: 
R h8— f8: 
K c8— c7 



And Mr. Green resigns. 



GAME THE THIRD. 



Mr Green. 

1. e2— e4 

2. f2— f4 

3. B fl— c4 



Mr. Lowenthal. 

d7— d6 
e7 — e5 
e5— f4: 



Mr. Green. 

4. Kt gl— f 3 

5. d2— d3 

6. 0—0 



Mr. Lowenthal. 

Kt g8— f 6 

Kt f 6— h5 

c7— c6 



Reports and Communications. 



133 



Mr. Green. 


Mr. L5wenthal. 




Mr. Green. 


Mr. Lowenthal, 


7. g2^g3 


B c8— h3 


17. 


Q h3-g4 


g5-f4: 


8. E:tf3~h4 


g7-g6 


18. 


B b5 c6: 


b7— c6: 


9. B cl— f4: 


B h3 fl: 


19. 


Kt e2— f 4: 


Q d8— c8 


10. Q dl— fl: 


d6 d5 


20. 


Q g4~g5 


B c5— e3 


11. 64— d5: 


B f8 c5t 


21. 


R al— el 


B e3— f4: 


12. K gl— hi 


c6— d5: 


22. 


g3-f4: 


Q c8 h3 


13. B c4— b5t 


Kt b8— c6 


23. 


f4 f5 


R f8 f5: 


14. Ktbl c3 


— 


24. 


Kth4 f5: 


Q h3— f5: 


15. Kt c3— e2 


g6— g5 




And Mr. Lowenthal wins. 


16. Q fl— h3 


Kth5 g7 










GAME TH] 


3 FOURTH. 




Mr. Green. 


Mr. Lowenthal. 




Mr. Green. 


Mr. Lowenthal. 


1. e2— e4 


d7— d6 


27. 


b2— b4 


Kt f 8— g6 


2. d2— d4 


e7 e5 


28. 


Kt e2— gl 


Ktg6 f4 


3. d4 e5: 


Q d8— e7 


29. 


K e3 f3 


K e7— d6 


4. Kt gl— f 3 


d6 e5: 


30. 


B c2 bl 


K d6— c7 


5. Ktbl— c3 


c7— c6 


31. 


B bl— c2 


K c7— b6 


6. B fl— c4 


B c8— g4 


32. 


B c2 bl 


a7— a5 


7. h2— h3 


B g4-f3: 


33. 


a2— a3 


a5 — a4 


8. Q dl— f3: 


Q d8 f6 


34. 


B bl— c2 


K b6 c7 


9. Q f3— f6: 


Kt g8— f 6: 


35. 


B c2— bl 


K c7— d6 


10. B cl— d2 


Kt b8— d7 


36. 


B bl— c2 


Kt e6' d4t 


11. — — 


b7— b5 


37. 


c3— d4: 


e5 d4: 


12. B c4— d3 


B f8 d6 


38. 


Kt gl— e2 


Kt f4— e6 


13. B d2 e3 


B d6 c5 


39. 


B c2— bl 


K d6— e5 


14. B e3— c5: 


Kt d7— c5: 


40. 


Kt e2— gl 


Kte6 f4 


15. B hi el 


Kt c5— 86 


41. 


Kt gl— e2 


Ktf4 h3: 


16. Kt c3— e2 


K e8 e7 


42. 


K f3 g2 


Kth3— f4t 


17. c2— c3 


R a8— d8 


43. 


Kt e2-f4: 


K e5— f4: 


18. B d3 c2 


h7— h5 


44. 


f2 f3 


K f4 e5 


19. R dl— d8: 


R h8— d8: 


45. 


K g2— f2 


d4— d3 


20. E el— dl 


R d8— dl:t 


46. 


K f2 e3 


h4 h3 


21. K cl— dl: 


h4 h5 


47. 


K e3 f2 


K e5 d4 


22. K dl— d2 


«6— c5 


48. 


e47— e5 


K d4— e5: 


23. K d2 e3 


g7— g5 


49. 


K f2— g3 


h3— h2 


24. g2-g4 


Ktf6 d7 


50. 


K g3— h2: 


K e5— f4 


25. B c2— b3 


c5 — c4 


51. 


K h2— g2 


K f4— e3 


26. B b3 c2 


Kt d7— f 8 


52. 


K g2— g3 


c4— c3 



And Mr. Green resigns. 



134 



Reports and Communications. 



GAME THE FIFTH. 



Mr. E. B. Brien. 
1. 

2. 
3. 

4. B 
5. 



e2— e4 
d2— d4 
d4— d5 
cl — g5 

B g5— f6: 
c2— c4 

Kt bl— c3 

8. B f 1— d3 

9. Kt gl—e2 
o — o 

f2— f4 

12. Kt e2— f 4: 

13. Ktf4— e2 

14. E fl— f6: 

15. Q dl— fl 

16. Kt e2— g3 

17. K gl— hi 

18. h2— g3: 

19. Q fl— f3 



6. 

7. 



10. 
11. 



Mr. J. Lowenthal. 

d7— d6 

e7— e5 
Kt g8— f 6 
B fS— e7 
B e7— f6: 

c7— c5 

o — o 

E f8— f7 

Kt b8— d7 

Kt d7— f 8 

e5— f4: 
B f6~e5 
E f8— f6 
Q d8— f6: 
Q f6— h6 
Q h6— e3t 
B e5— g3: 
Q e3— g3: 
Q g3-h4t 



Mr. E. B. Brien. 

20. K hi— gl 

21. E al— fl 

22. rt c3— dl 

23. Q f3— g3 

24. B d3— e2 

25. E fl— f8:t 

26. Q g3-f4t 

27. Kt dl— c3 

28. b2— b3 

29. Q f4— f2 

30. Q f2— f4 

31. Kt c3— dl 

32. Q f4— f2 

33. Q f2— f4 

34. Q f 4—e3 
g2-g3 
g3— h4: 
e3— c3 



35. 
36. 
37. Q 



Mr. J. Lowenthal. 
Kt f 8— g6 

Q h4— e7 

Kt g6— e5 

B c8— d7 

E a8— f8 

K g8— f8: 

K f8— g8 

g7— g6 

K g8-g7 

a7— a6 

h7— h5 

g6— g5 

g5_g4 

Kt e5— g6 
Q e7 — e5 
h5— h4 
Kt g6— h4: 
K g7— f6 



And Mr. Brien resigns. 



GAME THE SIXTH. 



Amateur. 

1. e2— e4 

2. d2— d4 

3. Kt gl— f 3 

4. B cl— e3 

5. B fl— c4 

6. Ktbl— d2 

7. B e3— d4: 

8. • c2— c3 

9. h2— h3 

10. g2-g4 

11. E hi— gl 

12. Kt d2— c4: 

13. Kt c4---e3 

14. Q dl— d2 

15. B d4— e5: 



Mr. J. Lowenthal. 

d7— d6 

e7— e5 

B c8— g4 

Kt b8— d7 

B f8— e7 

e5— d4: 

B e7— f6 

Kt g8— h6 

B g4--h5 

B h5— f7 

B f7— c4: 

Kt h6-f 7 

o — o 

Kt f 7— e5 

B f6— e5: 



Amateur. 

16. Ktf3— d4 

17. Kt e3— f 5 

18. c3-d4: 

19. g4 — g5 

20. Ktf5— h6t 

21. E gl-g4 

22. b2— b3 

23. o — o — o 

24. f2— f4 

25. E dl— el 

26. K cl— dl 

27. Q d2--el: 

28. Q el— d2 

29. K dl— d2: 
And the First 



Mr. J. Lowenthal, 

Q d8— f6 
B e5— d4: 
g7— g6 
Q f6— e6 
K g8-g7 
E f8— f3 
E f3— h3: 
E a8— fS 
Q e6— e4: 
E h3— hi 
E hi— el:t 
Q e4— d4:t 
Q d4— d2:t 
Kt d7— b6 
Player resigns. 



Reports and Communications. 135 

[Besides the above communication, another was received from the same 
able pen, in which Mr. Lowenthal discussed the propriety of always giving, 
in published games, the White pieces to the first player. He demonstrates 
the advantage of uniformity in this respect over the present system of some- 
times calling one player White and sometimes the other. This interesting 
letter was referred to the Committee on the Chess Code.] 



COMMUNICATION ON THE SUBJECT OF A MECHANICAL 
CHESS EECOEDER. 

TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL CHESS CONGRESS. 

The object of the Mechanical Chess Recorder is to enable 
players to recover or record a game within some short inter- 
val of time after it was played, and while the course of the 
game is still partially retained in the memory. It consists of 
the following arrangement. The men are made hollow, so as 
to contain a number of small balls of ivory or other material. 
These balls are colored and marked, so as to designate the 
particular piece to which they are appropriated ; but the two 
sets of pieces have similarly marked balls. Thus, there are 
sixteen sets of balls appropriated to the eight men and eight 
pawns of each color. To designate the sets of balls, and show 
to what Piece each belongs, those of the King, King's Pawn, and 
the Pieces and Pawns on the King's side, may be of one color, 
those of the Queen, and Pieces and Pawns on the Queen's side, 
of another. The balls appropriated to the Pawns may be of a 
different material from those of the Pieces, but all of the same 
size. The balls for each particular Piece or Pawn are to be fur- 
ther designated by a particular mark. Thus the King, King's 
Pawn, Queen and Queen's Pawn, may have a single dot ; the 
color and material of the ball further designating to which of 
the four it belongs. The Bishops and their Pawns, two dots, 
Knights and their Pawns, three dots. Rooks and their Pawns, 
four dots. The simple inspection of a ball will thus determine 
the Piece it represents. The balls are retained in the Pieces 
by a simple escapement, operated by a spring, by which they 
may be dropped one at a time, when the pieces are taken up and 



136 Reports and Communications. 

set down upon the board in playing. The board has a perfo- 
ration in the centre of each square, somewhat larger than 
the balls, and a slight inclined plane below it, upon which 
when the balls fall, they will run to one side, and be conducted 
to a properly prepared groove, in which they will take their 
places in succession in the order in which they are dropped. 

The method of operation will then be as follows : — A Piece 
when taken up and set down upon the square to which it is 
moved in the ganle, will, when pressed down (a small stud 
projecting from the bottom of the piece operating the escape- 
ment) cause a single ball to drop through the perforation in 
the square, and pass to its place in the groove. When the 
Piece is again taken up, a spring attached to the escapement, 
causes another ball to pass to a position on the lower pallet of 
the escapement, ready to be dropped when again pressed down 
upon a square. The record thus obtained of the game, by 
simple inspection of the balls in the groove, will then consist 
of a designation of the Pieces^ and of the order in which they 
icere played^ the alternate ball designating the color of the 
Pieces, Thus, if White played first, all the odd numbered balls 
would designate a White Piece, and the even numbered a Black. 
This, it is obvious, does not give all that is desirable ; but 
enough, it is presumed, to enable players to recover and record 
a game, some time after it was played. The simplicity of the 
plan, and its little liability to get out of order, if anything, 
must be its recommendation ; while all plans for mechanical 
recording that aim to designate not only the pieces and the 
order in which played, but also the square to Avhich they are 
played, must necessarily be so complicated, as to render them 
objectionable, and any application of electricity or magnetism 
for the purpose, would be too expensive and troublesome to 
keep in order. J. 

[Another communication was received from the same author, in which he 
described a still more ingenious and elaborate invention for the purpose of re- 
cording games, and which was worked, like the telegraph, by means of electro- 
magnetism. For want of the necessarj^ wood-cuts the letter is here omitted.] 



Reports and Communications. 137 

NEW SYSTEMS OF CHESS NOTATION. 
I. 

The undersigned respectfully submits for the consideration 
of the members of the First National Chess Congress, the fol- 
lowing new method of recording games and positions. 

This Notation, it is believed, furnishes a method of express- 
ing all the operations of the game of chess in the most symme- 
trical and concise form. By the aid of devices familiar in the 
notation of mathematics, the smallest possible number of inde- 
pendent arbitrary symbols are employed ; and the most com- 
plicated operation requires no more and no less space for its 
expression than the most simple. It is thus admirably adapted 
for the tabular arrangement of games and analyses. It can be 
as easily learned as the English notation, of which it retains 
several important features. It can be written with care and 
rapidity, and can be printed wherever mathematical printing 
can be done, and with as little liability of error. 

The Pieces are denoted by the Capital Initial Letters. 

The Pawns are denoted by the Small Initial Letters. 

The Squares are denoted by the Small Initial Letters with 
the Numbers. 

The Queen's Rook, Bishop, and Knight, with their respec- 
tive Pawns, are distinguished from the King's by the accent. 

King's Pawn. 
Queen's Pawn. 
King's Rook's Pawn. 
King's Bishop's Pawn. 
King's Knight's Pawn. 
Queen's Rook's Pawn. 
Queen's Bishop's Pawn. 
Queen's Knight's Pawn. 



1: 


King. 


k 


Q 
R 
B 
K» 


Queen. 
King's Rook. 
King's Bishop. 
King's Knight. 


r 
b 
k' 


'R 


Queen's Rook. 


'r 


'B Queen's Bishop. 

'K* Queen's Knight. 

denotes best move. 


'b 
'k« 




" takes. 






" chech 






" double check. 





>38 



Reports and Communications. 



denotes discovered check. 
'^ perpetual check, 
castles. 

castles on Queen's side. 
Pawn takes Pawn in passing, 
checkmate, 
stalemate, 
drawn game, 
game is equal, 
wins. 

white has the best : which may be expressed without 
the letters, with the symbol in either column, > <^ 
black has the best. 
Bishop's double Pawn. 
Bishop's third Pawn. 

Q's B's Pawn to Q's B's 8th square, becoming Queen, 
variation of game A, at the 10th move, 
variation of a'®, at the 19th move, 
variation of game a\^ at the 21st move. 

The squares are designated in the usual English method, 
White's^^r^i^ squares are Black's eighth^ and vice versd. 



00 

0-0 

'0-^0 
*(P-P) 



W>B 

W<B 

b^ 

b^ 

'b'bS 

121^19 



8J, 


^A, 


8q. 


8b 


H 


8q 


8.>l 


8j 


D 




D 




D 




Q 




'ri 


'k^l 


'bl 


qi 


ki 


bl 


k'l 


n 



w. 
In the following manner the position of a game can be 
given in a very small space. 

Situation of the pieces a\l. 

W. E bl, 1; n, 'r, 'k^, 'b, \\ r, 'B bs, q qs, Q rs, 'K* be. 
B. 'R, 'B, it, R, 'r, 'k\ b, r, 'K* ^3, Q k*8, B rs, b^ bs. 

which reads, situation of the pieces at the 19th move, of the 
variation commencing at the 10th move. 

White, — K. R. on K, B. square, K. on K. R. square, 

* ('b — q) Queen's Bishop's pawn takes Queen's pawn in passing, 
f Used as heads for columns, or notes. 



Reports and Communications. 



139 



Q's. R. P., Q '^ KK P., Q ^ B. P., K ^ K*. P., K'^. R. P. on their 
respective squares, Q. B. on K's. B'^ 3d square, P. on Q'^. 3d 
square, Q. on K. R'^. 5th square, Q. K*. on K. B's 6th square. 
Mack,—q.U., Q. B., K., K. R., Q. R. P., Q. K^. P., 
K. B. P., K. R. P., on their squares. Q. K*. on Q. B. 3d 
square, Q. on K. K^ 3d square, K. B. on K. R. 3d square, 
double pawn on K. B. 5th square. 





Game illustrative 




... ^ 

i 




of the 


The Corresponding English Notation. j 


1 


New Notation. 






W. B. 


w. 


B. 


k k4 


k k4 


p. to K. 4th. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2 


K^ b3 


'K^ 'b3 


K. Kt to B. 3rd. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3rd. 


3 


B 'b4 


B 'b4 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4 


'k^ 'k*4 


B-'kM 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


B. takes Q. Kt. P.* 


5 


'b 'b3 


B 'r4 


P. to Q. B. 3rd. 


B. to Q. R. 4th. 


6 


0-0 


B 'k'3 


Castles. 


B. to Q. Kt. 3rd. 


7 


q q4 


k-q 


P. to Q. 4th. 


P. takes P. 


8 


k k5 


q q4 


P. to K. 5th. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


9 


(k-q) 


Q-k 


P. takes P. in passing. 


Q. takes P. 


10 


R 'kl: 


'B k3 


R. to K. sq. (ch.) 


Q. B. to K. 3rd. 


11 


'B 'r3 


Q q2 


Q. B. to Q. R. 3rd. 


Q. to her 2nd. 


12 


K' k'5 


q-b 


Kt. to K. Kt. 5th. 


P. takes P. 


13 


K*-'B 


Q-Q 


Kt. takes Q. B. 


Q. takes Q. 


14 


'K*-'k^-: 


it q2 


Kt. takes Kt. P. (doub' ch.) 


K. to Q. 2nd. 




> 




White has the best game. 


*Best. 



CAMBRinaE, Massachusetts, October^ 1857. 



John Baetlett. 



[The system of Chess Notation described in the above communication was 
printed shortly after the adjournment of the National Congress, in a folio 
form, of four pages, and bearing the following title : — A new Method of Chess 
Notation^ by John Bartlett. Cambridge, December 1857. It was accom- 
panied with a full illustration of the method, consisting of the whole of the 
analysis of the Muzio G-ambit, taken from Staunton's Handbook, and written 
out in accordance with Mr, Bartlett's system.] 



140 



Reports and Communications. 



11. 

The following new style of Chess Notation, I take the 
liberty of submitting to the consideration of the Members of 
the First ISTational Chess Congress : 



7 
1 


6 


5 

3 


4 

4 


3 
5 


2 

6 


7 


s 


6 

1 


5 

J3 


4 

3 


3 

4 


2 
5 


1 

e 


7 


8 

8 

2 


5 

1 


4 


3 
3 


2 
4 


1 
5 


6 


2 

1 


4 

1 


3 


2 
3 


1 
4 


5 


6 

1 


2 


8 

3 


3 

1 


2 


1 
3 


4 


5 

1 


6 

2 


z 

3 


8 

4 


2 

1 


1 


3 


4 

1 


5 

2 


6 

3 


7 

4 


8 

5 


1 

1 


2 


3 

1 


4 

2 


5 

3 


6 

4 


z 

5 


8 

6 


1 


1 


3 

2 


4 

3 


5 

4 


6 

5 


z 

6 


8 

7 



In this, as in all other systems of Chess Notation, the side 
of the board whereon the white men are placed, is supposed 
to face the player. 

Then, according to this style, the dark square in the left 
corner of the board is numbered 1. The dark square touch- 
ing 1 is No. 2, and so on, through the diagonal to the oppo- 

site corner No. 8. The square next above 1 is 1, or as read 
1 above 1. 



Reports and Communications. 



141 



1 

The square immediately above 4 is 4; that immediately 
below 4 is 4 ; read in this manner : 

4. Four. 

4. One above fom*. 

2 

4. Two above four. 

4. Three below four. 

3 

8. Eight. 

8. Five below eight. 
5 

Taking this system in its most simple form, we are not 
required to give any letter or other sign, to designate whether 
a Piece or Pawn has been moved, as nothing can be more 
readily believed than the fact that no two men can be in one 
position at the same time ; therefore, if the person, playing 
over a game, from the record, finds a move 1 to 8, three above 

five to three below eight, he may, with the utmost confidence, 
move a Bishop from one square to the other, should he find 
one on the former square. 

The following Game, between the Duke of R. and Mr. S. 
Dubois, of Rome, will more fully exhibit the merits of the 
proposed plan ; those wishing to see it in another form may 
find it in the Chess Monthly, Vol. II. p. 302. 



WHITE. 

Dubois. 


BLACK. 

Duke R. 


WHITE. 

Dubois. 


BLACK. 

Duke K. 


1. 5 
3 


5 

1 


^ 


5 


•7. 


4 
2 


4 


44 


S. 6 

4 


6 

2 


5 


6 

2 


8. 


5 


4z 


6 6 

2 3 


s. r 

6 


e 

3 


7 


'7 

2 


9. 


"7 

5 


4 


& k 


4. 8 

6 


s 

4 


2 


3 


10. 


4 
1 


e 

2 


f ^ 


5. e 

3 


5 


8 

1 


8 

3 


11. 


3 

2 


5 

2 


4 -^ 


6. 6 

5 


^ 


1 


8 

2 


IS. 


J3 

] 


3 


il 



142 



Reports and Communications. 



WHITE 




BLACK. 


WHITI 


3. 


BLACK. 


Dubois. 


Duke E. 


Dubois. 


Duke E. 


IS. 6 


1 


3 


4 


31. 


I 


1 


6 e 


2 


4 


3 


1 




5 


S 


3 4 


14. 4 
3 


4 

1 


^ 


& 


3S. 


5 

4 


6 

5 


7 6 

2 1 


15. 5 

2 


2 


^ 


6 


33. 


1 
S 


& 


•^ ^ 


le. 5 

1 


5 


i 


h 


34. 


5 


7 
3 


i ^ 


17. 4 


7 


3 


2 


35. 


7 


8 


J. ^ 


I 


1 


5 


6 




3 


2 


7 6 


18. 5 


6 


J. 


6 


3S. 


5 


8 


6 6 






*? 






S 


1 


1 3 


19. 1 


6 


V 


6 


37. 


8 


8 


2 2 


4 










1 




6 5 


5 


S 






38. 


8 


5 


2 3 


.0.1 














5 4 


I 
5 


e 


*7 

2 


39. 


8 

7 


8 
3 


i ^ 


'' 


4 






40. 


8 


5 


A 8 


SI. 8 


z 


8 


•7 




3 




S 


4 


2 




41. 


8 


6 


8 8 


ss. *? 


8 


1 


7 




2 


1 


6 


1 


2 


•7 




4S. 


3 


3 


8 7 


S3. 3 


5 


1 


4 




1 




6 5 




1 


3 


2 


43. 


S 

1 


3 

1 


7 7 

5 6 


S4. S 
1 


4 
2 


4 


•7 

2 


44. 


6 

1 


5 

2 


6 5 

3 2 


S5. 8 


2 


2 


JL 










2 


4 


6 


T 


45. 


5 


5 


7 6 


S6. 4 


5 


7* 


4 






2 


6 5 


2 


1 


2 


4 


46. 


5 


6 


44 


S7. 5 


6 


•^ 


1 




2 


3 


1 




6 


47. 


7 


7 


2 1 












4 


3 


4 4 


S8. 6 


3 




"7 












4 


r 


2 


48. 


6 


6 


6 7 


S9. 3 


5 


1 


7 




3 


2 


5 6 


4 




e 




49. 


6 


6 




30. ^ 


^ 


4 


& 




2 


4 





In this mode of recording Games, if any doubt should arise 
as to the position of any Piece, it is quite easy to follow it 
from its starting, to any desired point, without the confusion 
which often aiises from the Knights and Rooks, either King's 
or Queen's, being miscalled. As tracing the White King's 
Knight, we have at home on ^ — .3 ^ = 5 — 5ii::8^=r:10 — ^ = 



13 



:19-6=r28 4=:29-5==34-- 



:35- 



^ = 41-^rr=44~^ 



Reports and Communications. 



H3 



when he at last yields to the Rook, with the satisfaction of 
having survived nearly all his brethren. 

If the person, recording a game or copying one, is hurried, 
it will be simpler to surround the figure intended to be large, 
by a circle. 

A style very similar to the one under consideration, may be 
examined in connexion, the difference consisting in numbering 
the rank nearest the player of the White men from the left to 
the right. A short part of a game is here presented in both this 
and what has been called the Germano- American Notation. 





WHITE. 








G.A. 






1. 


eJ3-e4: 


^ 


3 

5 


s. 


gl-f3 


7 


^ 


3. 


a-c4: 


6 


1 


4. 


dS-d4l= 


4 


I 


5. 


fS-eS 


^ 


^ 


6. 


d4-e5 


I 


k 


7. 


e5-d6 


^ 


I 


8. 


dl-eS 


4: 


k 


New York, October, 1857. 





G. A. 


UlS.. 


er-e5 


& 4 


b8-c6 


i k 


fr-fS 


h^ 


fS-e4 


A i 


c6-e5 


^ k 


d7-d6 


44 


dS-dS 


44 


gs-fe 


i 4 


Egbert J. Dodge. 



III. 

TO THE SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL CHESS CONGRESS. 

As the subject of Chess Notation is occupying the attention of the 
Chess Congress, I desire to submit the remarks which folio w, and the 
scheme annexed, as it may have some interest among matters and 
propositions of a similar kind. It is proper to premise that what fol- 
lows was written out, and the method was applied to exemplifying 
games, several months ago. 

The various systems of notation may be resolved into methods of 
naming the squares. The names of all the other squares are derived 
from those of the first rank, and as these are taken from the King and 
Queen, the designations of every square of the board, depend ulti- 



144 Reports and Communications. 

mately upon those two royal Pieces. Hencej every square has two 
nameSj — one on the part of the White King and Queen, and the other 
relating to the opposite colour. 

In looking at the dijQferent modes of notation we recognize a marked 
disposition to designate by counting — the squares are numbered in 
some established series. The sound philosophical cause of this ten- 
dency, we may here pass over, and we may almost assume, a priori^ 
that the most general form of expression will finally be adopted. The 
tendency hitherto agrees with the antecedent presumption, and both 
announce that Chess Notation will determine its form as numeral, and 
its numeral form as cardinal. 

The existing English system of notation is not pure in character, 
but allows the employment of symbols of operation — such as when 
a piece ''takes," ''interposes," "checks," &;c. If its superiority may 
be inferred from the fact of its adoption, we may discover a property 
which it possesses in the fact that it names the squares in accordance 
with the directions of the lines on the board. Its names are, obviously, 
based upon the ranks and files of the chess-board. But this system is 
a combination of two kinds of lines, which are relatively opposed the 
one to the other. Now the board offers another kind of line, which 
permits a unity in the mode of counting the squares, and avoids the 
clumsy consequence of a double name for a single thing. 

The other kind of line — as the reader will have anticipated — is the 
diagonal^ and a method of notation is easily based upon it as foUoAVS : 
The diagonal lines, counted from left to right, or from right to left, are 
fifteen^ or thirty, in all. But, one way is sufficient, and taken in rela- 
tion to one of the players, is enough. Let, then, the method of count- 
ing diagonals, proceed from Whitens side, and begin at his right. His 
right hand corner square is 1, the left corner square is 8, and its 
opposite corner square, i. e.. Queen's Rook's eighth square, is 15. The 
other squares along these two fines fill up the intermediate numbers. 
The foregoing basis squares of the system, which number the diagonals, 
may be expressed by co-efi&cient numbers, and the others which are 
related to them, may be put as indices. According to this, we should 
write K. R.'s 2nd sqr. 2', his third, 3\ his eighth would be 8« : King's 
eighth would be 11 V <^c., &c., all of which is seen at once, almost 
without the aid of a diagram, or chess-board. 

It is apparent that a system may be complete, when the squares only 
are denoted ; in such a case the piece to be moved is impUed by desig- 
nating its square. In fact the name, or number, of the first square, 



Reports and Communications. 145 

serves as a name of the piece which occupies it. This, however, is 
somewhat too indirect, and there seems some reason and necessity for 
mentioning, in the system, the names of the chess-men as well as the 
squares of the board. If this be just, it will then be found requisite 
to generahze the names of the pieces as well as those of the squares. 
As to the pawns, they could be left to the general provision of stating 
the numbers of the two squares affected by their move. Castling 
could be expressed perfectly by stating the moves of the two pieces 
which compose it, and the promotion of pawn could be indicated in a 
similar manner. In an advanced system we may anticipate the ehmi- 
nation of that whole class of records which, in signifying the ejfect of 
a move, mentions two things where one would sufi&ce — whether they 
relate to the taking of a piece, the covering or uncovering a check, the 
giving direct check, or check-mate. 

At once the most simple and general mode of putting the piece in 
the record, is to employ its natural symbol — as now on chess diagrams. 
The needed changes for contradistinction's sake are most readily 
effected. As one method, for an example, to distinguish the King's 
Knight from the Queen, let the horse's head be turned contrary ways ; 
upon the King's Bishop's mitre engrave a Latin cross, and a Greek 
cross upon the Queen's ; and let the turret of the Queen's Rook be dove- 
tailed, while the King's is embattled. By any of a multitude of such 
modes, the due distinction can be reached. The result of all would be 
to render the record of chess play as general as the knowledge of the 
game itself. And apparently this is the proper end in view, unless 
facility and clearness be found to be incompatible with it. 

As a scarcely-needed illustration of the method, I add a little game 
of G-reco's, using the usual contractions for the names of the pieces. 

WHITE. BLACK. 

1. P — 7^ 1. P — 8^ 

2. Kir- 5' 2. P —10* 

3. B — 9^ 3. B — 5* 

4. P — 3^ 4. B — 5^ 
6. Q — 5^ 5. Q — 8« 

6. Q — 9^ 6. P —12'^ 

7. Kt— 8^ 7. Kt^lO^ 

8. Kl>~112 8. Kt— 13 

9. Q —11 9. Kt— 10« 

White gives mate in two moves. 
YoRKViLLE, October 15<^, 1857. James Munhoe. 

7 



1 46 Reports and Communications. 

[In addition to the above, a petition, signed by all the chess-editors of New 
York, by a large number of the members of the New York Ck b, and by 
several leading amateurs from different parts of the country, was laid before 
the Congress, requesting that body to give its influence in favor of the sys- 
tem of notation invented by Stamma, and now known as the Continental or 
German method. It was referred to the Committee on the Code. 

Letters regretting their inability to attend the Congress were received, 
among others, from Mr. James Morgan, and Mr. J. S. Turner, of Chicago, 111. ; 
Mr. W. W. Montgomery, of Augusta, Geo. ; Mr. Ernest Morphy, of Quincy, 
111. ; Mr. G. N. Cheney, of Syracuse, N. Y. ; Mr. J. A. Potter, of Salem, 
Mass. ; Mr. W. G. Thomas, of Philadelphia ; Professor H. E. Agnel, of West 
Point, N. Y. ; Mr. T. Loyd, and Mr. S. Loyd, of Florence, N. J. ; Mr. E. J. 
"Weller, of Boston ; and Mr. J. Ferguson, of Lockport, N. Y.] 



CHAPTER VI 



GAMES IN THE GRAND TOURNAMENT. 



FIRST SECTION. 



COMBA TANTS. 

MoRPHY AND Thompson, 
Kennicott and Raphael, 
Montgomery and Allison, 
Meek and Fuller, 



FiSKE AND MaRACHE, 

Lichtenhein and Stanley, 
Paulsen and Calthrop, 
Perrin and Knott. 



aAME I.— aiuoco piano. 

First Game between Morphy and Thompson. 



Thompson.* 


Morphy. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. P. to Q. 3d. 


4. K. Kt. to B. 3d.t 


5. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. P. to K. R, 3d. 


6. Q. Kt. to K. 2d.t 


6. P. to Q. 3d. 


7. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


7. Castles. 


8. P. to K. R. 3d. 


8. K. to R. sq. 


9. Q. Kt. to K. Kt. 3d. 


9. K. Kt. to E. 2d. 


10. Q. to Q. B. 2d.§ 


10. P. to K. B. 4th. 



* In all the games in this book the first player is supposed to use the 
White pieces. 

+ This is, perhaps, a httle better than the usual move of 4. P. to Q. 3d. 

X A manoeuvre first introduced by Mr. Stanley. 

§ He played this with the idea of preventing Black's move of 10. P. to 
S^ B. 4th ; White probably overlooked the move of 11. P. to Q. 4th. 



148 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Thompson. 


Morphy. 


11. 


K. P. takes P. 


11. P. to Q. 4:th. 


12. 


K. B. to Kt. 3d. 


12. P. to K. 5th. 


13. 


Q. P. takes P. 


13. Q. P. takes P. 


14. 


K. Kt. to Kt. sq. 


14. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 


15. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


15. Q. Kt. to Q. 6th (ch.) 


16. 


K. to K. 2d. 


16. K. B. takes Q. B. 


17. 


B. P. takes B. 


17. Q. to K. K. 5th. 


18. 


Q. Kt. takes K. P 


18. Q. takes Q. Kt. 


19. 


Q. takes Q. Kt. 


19. Q. takes Kt. P. (ch.) 


20. 


K. to Q. sq. 


20. Q. B. takes B. P. 


21. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


21. Q. takes K. R. 




And Whit 


3 resigns.* 



GAME II.— SICILIAN OPENING-. 

Second Game hetween Morphy and Thompson. 





Morphy. 




Thompson. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


B. P. takes P. 


4. 


K. Kt. takes P. 


4. 


P. to K. 3d. 


5. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


6. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


6. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


7. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


7. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


8. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


8. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d.t 


9. 


K. P. takes P. 


9. 


K. P. takes P. 


10. 


Q. Kt. takes P. 


10. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


11. 


Q. Kt. takes K. Kt. (ch.) 


11. 


K. B. takes Q. Kt. 


12. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


12. 


Castles. 


13. 


Castles. 


13. 


Q. to Q. B. 2d. 


14. 


Q. to Q. R. 4th. 


14. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


15. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


15. 


K. R. to K. 5th. 



* The time occupied in playing this game was one hour. 

f This loses a Pawn. The only way to avoid this loss was to play 8. Q. 
to Q. 3d ; White would probably have played, in that case, 9. P. to K. 5th, 
with the better game. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



149 



16. K. 

17. Q. 

18. P. 

19. B. 

20. P. 

21. B. 

22. B. 

23. B. 

24. K. 

25. P. 

26. E. 

27. P. 

28. B. 

29. E. 

30. B. 

31. E. 

32. E. 

33. K. 
84. E. 
35. K. 



36. 
37. 



38. E. 

39. P. 

40. P. 

41. P. 

42. P. 

43. P. 

44. P. 

45. K. 

46. P. 

47. E. 

48. K. 



Morphy. 
B. takes Kt. 
to Q. B. 2d. 
to K. Kt. 3d. 
P. takes B. 
to Q. 5th. 
to Q. B. 5th. 
takes Q. 
to Q. E. 3d. 
E. to K. sq. 
to K. B. 3d. 
takes K. E. 
to Q. 6th. 
to Q. B. 5th. 
to K. 7th. 
takes Kt. P. 
takes B. 
to Q. Kt. 7th. 
to B. 2d. 
takes Q. Kt. P. 
to K. 3d. 
to Q. E. 4th. 
to Q. E. 5th. 
to Q. E. 4th. 
to Q. Kt. 4th. 
to Q. Kt. 5th. 
to Q. E. 6th. 
to Q. Kt. 6th. 
to Q. Kt. 7th. 
to Q. E. 7th.t 
to B. 4th. 
to E. 8th. (Q.) 
takes E. 
takes B. P. 



16. Q. 

17. K. 

18. K. 

19. Q. 

20. B. 

21. Q. 

22. Q. 

23. P. 

24. P. 

25. K. 

26. E. 

27. P. 

28. P. 

29. E. 

30. E. 

31. K. 

32. E. 

33. E. 

34. E. 

35. E. 

36. E. 

37. E. 

38. K. 

39. E. 

40. E. 

41. K. 

42. K. 

43. K. 

44. E. 

45. K. 

46. E. 

47. K. 



Thompson. 
B. takes K. B. 
B. to K. 4th. 
B. takes Kt. - 
to K. 2d. 
to Q. 2d. 
E. to Q. B. sq. 
E. takes Q. 
to Q. Kt. 4th. 
to K. B. 4th. 
E takes K. E. 
to Q. 7th. 
to Q. E. 4th. 
to Q. Kt. 5th 
to Q. 4th. 
P. takes B. 
to B. sq. 
to Q. 5th. 
takes Q. P. 
to Q. 7th. (ch.) 
takes K. E. P.* 
to Q. B. 7th. 
to Q. B. 4th. 
to K. 2d. 
to Q, B. sq. 
to Q. Kt. sq. 
to Q. 2d. 
to B. 3d. 
to Kt. 3d. 
to K. sq. (ch.) 
takes Kt. P. 
takes Q. 
takes E. 



And White wins.}: 



* White could well afford to gain time by the sacrifice of this Pawn. 

f All this is sure to win in the end. 

j: The time occupied by this game was two hours and fifty minutes. 



150 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



GAME III.— aiUOCO PIANO. 


Third Game hetween Morphy and Thompson. 


Thompson. 




Morphy. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


4. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. P. to Q. 3d.* 


5. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


6. P. to K. E. 3d. 


6. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


7. K. B. to Q. Kt. 3d.t 


7. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


8. K. P. takes P. 


8. 


Q. B. takes Q. P.J 


9. Castles. 


9. 


Castles. 


10. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


10. 


Q. B. takes K. B. 


11. R. P. takes Q. B. 


11. 


P. to K. E. 3d. 


12. B. to K. E. 4th. 


12. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


13. B. to Kt. 3d. 


13. 


P. to K. 5th. 


14. K. Kt. to K. 5th. 


14. 


Q, Kt. takes K. Kt. 


15. B. takes Q. Kt. 


15. 


K. P. takes P. 


16. B. takes Kt. 


16. 


Q. takes B. 


17. Q. takes Q. P. 


17. 


Q. E. to Q. sq. 


18. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 


18. 


K. E. to K. sq. 


19. P. to Q. Kt 4th. 


19. 


B. to Kt. 3d. 


20. Kt. to Q. E. 3d. 


20. 


Q. to K. B. 5th. 


21. Q. E. to Q. sq. 


21. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


22. Q. E. to Q. 3d.§ 


22. 


B. takes B. P. (ch.) 


23. K. to E. sq. 


23. 


Q. E. takes Q. E. 


24. Q. takes Q. E. 


24. 


E. to K. 6th. 


25. Q. to Q. 8th (ch.) 


25. 


K. to Kt. 2d. 


26. Q. to Q. 4th (ch.) 


26. 


Q, takes Q. 


27. B. P. takes Q. 


27. 


E. to K. 7th. i 


28. Kt. to Q. B. 4th. 


28. 


E. to K. 8th. 1 



* Lewis is undecided whether this or 5. P. to Q. 4th be the better move 
tlie Handlmch says that the centre Pawns obtained by 5. P. to Q. 4th cannoi] 
be maintained. 

f This seems to lose time ; he ought rather to have exchanged Bishops. 

:j: 8 K. Kt. takes Q. P. would have been equally good. j 

§ This is not a good move ; Black, however, has already the better game 
let White play as he may. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



151 



Thompson. 

29. K. takes E. 

30. Kt. to Q. R. 5th. 

31. Kt. takes Kt. P. 

32. Kt. to Q. 8th. 

33. Kt. to Q. B. 6th» 

34. P. takes P. 

35. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

36. Kt. to Q. 8th. 

37. K. to Kt. 2d. 

38. K. to B. 3d. 

39. K. to K. 2d. 

40. K. to Q. 3d. 

41. Kt. to K. B. 7th. 

42. K. to Q. B. 2d.* 

43. Kt. to Q. 8th. 

44. Kt. to Q. Kt. 7th. 

45. Kt. to Q. R. 5th (ch.) 

46. Kt. to Q. Kt. 3d. 



29. 
30. 
31. 
32. 
33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 
39. 
40. 
41. 
42. 
43. 
44. 
45. 
46. 



Morphy. 

B. takes R. 
B. takes Kt. P. 
K. to B. 3d. 
P. to Q. B. 4th. 
K. to K. 3d. 
B. takes P. 
K. to Q. 4th. 
P. to K. B. 3d. 
P. to Q. R. 4th. 
P. to Q. R. 5th. 
B. to Q. 5th. 
B. takes Kt. P. 
B. to K. 4th. 
K. to Q. B. 5th. 
P. to Q. R. 6th. 
P. to Q. R. 7th. 
K. to Q. Kt. 5th. 
K. to Q. R. 6th. 



And Mr. Morphy wins in the First Section.! 



GAME lY.— SCOTCH aAMBIT. 
First Game between Kennicott and Raphael. 



Eaphael. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. P. to Q. 4th. 

4. K. B. to Q. B 4th. 

5. Castles. I 



Kennicott 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. P. takes P. 

4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

5. P. to Q. 3d. 



* It is evident that he cannot capture the King's Rook's Pawn, 
f Time, two hours and a half. 

X This is less advisable than 5, P. to Q. B. 3d since Black can now retain 
the Gambit Pawn with safety. 



152 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



6. P. 

7. P. 

8. Q. 

9. K, 

10. P. 

11. Q. 

12. Q. 

13. Q. 

14. B. 

15. Q. 

16. Q. 

17. P. 

18. E. 

19. K. 

20. K. 

21. P. 

22. K. 

23. Q. 

24. B. 

25. P. 

26. K. 

27. P. 

28. Q. 



Raphael. 

to Q. B. 3d. 
to Q. Kt. 4th. 
takes Q. P. 
B. takes Q. B. 
to Q. R. 4th. 
Kt. to R. 3d. 
Kt. to B. 4th. 
B. to K. 3d. 
takes B. 
R. to Q. sq. 
to K. 3d. 
to Q. Kt. 5th. 
P. takes P. 
Kt. to Kt. 5th. 
Kt. to R. 3d. 
to K. B. 4th. 
R. to B. 3d. 
Kt. to Q. 2d. 
P. takes P. 
to Q. B. 4th. 
Kt. to B. 2d. 
to K. R. 3d. 
R. to K. B. sq. 



Kennicott. 

6. P. to Q. 6th.* 

7. K. B. to Kt. 3d. 

8. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

9. B. P. takes K. B. 

10. P. to Q. R. 3d. 

11. P. to K. 4th. 

12. B. to Q. R. 2d. 

13. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

14. Q. R. takes B. 

15. K. Kt. to Q. 2d.t 

16. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

17. R. P. takes P. 

18. Q. Kt. to Kt. sq. 

19. P. to K. R. 3d. 

20. Castles. 

21. Q. to K. 2d. 

22. Q. R. to R. 5th. 

23. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

24. Q. takes P. 

25. Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

26. K. R. to K. square. 

27. Q. Kt. to Q. B. 4th. 

28. P. to Q. 4th.t 



* We should have preferred 6. Q. P. takes B. P. which would probably 
have led to the following variation : 



1, Q. Kt. takes P. 

8. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

9. P. to Q. Kt. 4th, 
10. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

And Black has the better game, 
tif 

16. P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

17. R. P. takes P. 

18. Q. Kt. takes K. P., etc 
X "Well played. 



6. Q. P. takes B. P. 

1. K. Kt. to K. 2d (best). 

8. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 

9. K. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 
10. Castles. 



15. Castles. 

16. R. P. takes P. 

17. Q. Kt. toK. 2d. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



153 





Eaphael. 


Kennicott. 


29. 


K. E. to K. B. 5th.* 


29. Q. takes E. 


30. 


K. Kt. to Q. 3d. 


30. Q. to K. 3d. 


31. 


K. Kt. to K. B. 4th. 


31. Q. to Q. 2d. 


32. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 6th. 


32. Q. Kt. takes K. P. 


33. 


Q. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


33. K. E. takes Q. Kt 


34. 


Q. to K. Kt. 3d. 


34. Q. E. takes B. P. 


35. 


K. K. takes Kt. 


35. Kt. P. takes E. 


36. 


Kt. to K. 7th (ch.) 


36. K. to B. 2d. 




And White 


5 resigns.! 



GAME Y.— PETEOFF DEFENCE. 
Second Game between Kennicott and Eaphael. 





Kennicott 




EaphaeL 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


K. Kt. takes K. P. 


3. 


P. to Q 3d. 


4. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


K. Kt. takes K. P. 


5. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


5. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


6. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


6. 


P. to K. B. 4th 


7. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


7. 


Castles. 


8. 


Castles. 


8. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


9. 


Q. to Q. B. 2d. 


9. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 4th. 


10. 


K. Kt. takes K. Kt. 


10. 


K. B. takes K. Kt. 


11. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


11. 


K. B. to K. E. 3d. 


12. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


12. 


Kt. to B. 3d. 


13. 


P. to Q. 5th.t 


13. 


Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


14. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


14. 


Kt. takes K. B. 


15. 


Q. takes Kt. 


15. 


K. B takes Q. Kt. 


16. 


B. to Q. 4th. 


16. 


K. B. takes Q. E. 


17. 


B. takes K. B. 


17. 


Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


18. 


E. to B. 3d. 


18. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 



* An unaccountable blunder. \ Time, six and a quarter hours. 

X This loses the Exchange and a Pawn: 13. Q to B. 3d was the only 
means of avoiding the immediate loss of a Pawn. 

7* 



154 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Kennicott. 


Raphael. 


19. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


19. Q. R. to K. sq. 


20. K. to B. 2d. 


20. Q. to K. 2d. 


21. R. to K. 3d. 


21. Q. takes R. (ch.) 


22. Q. takes Q. 


22. Q. R. takes Q. 


23. K. takes R. 


23. R. to K. sq. (ch.) 


24. K. to B. 2d. 


24. B. to R. 3d. 


25. P. to Q. E. 4th. 


25. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


26. Q. P. takes P. 


26. R. to Q. B. sq. 


27. K. to K. 3d. 


27. R. takes B. P. 


28. K. to Q. 4th. 


28. R. to Q. B. sq 


29. B. to B. 3d. 


29. K. to B. 2d. 


30. K. to Q. 5th. 


30. B. to Kt. 2d. (ch.) 


31. K. takes Q. P. 


31. B. takes Kt. P. 


32. K. to Q. 7th. 


32. R. to K. sq. 


33. B. takes K. Kt. P. 


33. R. to K. 6th. 


34. B. to Q. 4th. 


34. R. to Q. 6th. 


And Whit 


e resigns.* 


GAME YL— QUEEN'S GAMBIT EEFUSED. 


Third Game between K 


ENNicoTT and Raphael. 


Eaphael. 


Kennicott. 


1. P. to Q. 4th. 


1. P. to Q. 4th. 


2. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. p. to K. 3d. 


3. P. to K. 3d. 


3. K. Kt. toB. 3d. 


4. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. K. B. to K. 2d. 


5. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


6. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


6. Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


7. Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


7. Castles. 


8. K. B. to K. 2d. 


8. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. | 


9. Castles. 


9. K. B. takes Q. Kt. 


10. Q. B. takes K. B. 


10. K. Kt. to K. 5th. 


11. Q. B to Kt. 2d. 


11. P. to K. B. 4th. 


12. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 


12. Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


13. Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 


13. Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 


14. B. P. takes P. 


14. K. P. takes P. 


15. K. B. to Q. 3d. 


15. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


16. Q. to Kt. sq. 


16. B. P. takes P. 


17. Q. R. takes Q. R. 


17. B. takes Q R. 



* Time, two hours and ten minutes. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



155 





Eaphael. 


Kennicott. 


18. 


Q. B. takes Q. P. 


18. B. to Kt. 2d. 


19. 


R. to Q. B. sq. 


19. P. to K. R. 3d. 


20. 


Q. to Kt. 2d. 


20. R. to B. 2d. 


21. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


21. K. Kt. to Kt. 4th. 


22. 


Kt. takes K. Kt. 


22. Q. takes Kt. 


23. 


E. to Q. B. 7th. 


23. Kt. to B. 3d. 


24. 


Q. B. takes Kt. 


24. Kt. P. takes B. 


25. 


R. takes R. 


25. K. takes R. 


26. 


Q. to Q. 4th.* 


26. Q. to Kt. 5th. 


Wh 


ite should rather have played 


26. Q. to Q. B. 3d. The following is 



the position of the forces: — 

BLACK. 




If now White move 26. Q. to Q. B. 3d Black cannot play 26. Q. takes P. (ch.) for 



26. Q. to Q. B. 3d. 
21. K. takes Q. 

28. Q. to Q. B. 6th. 

29. B. takes B. 
Whining- a piece. 



26. Q. takes K. Kt. P. (ch.) 
21. P. to Q. 5th (ch.) 
28. B. takes Q. (ch.) 



,56 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Eaphael. 




Kfcnnicott. 


27. B. to Q. 7th. 


27. 


Q. to K. 7th. 


28. Q. to Q. R. sq. 


28. 


P. to K. B. 5th. 


29. K. P. takes P. 


29. 


P. to Q. 5th. 


30. Q. to K. B. sq. 


30. 


Q. takes Q. R. P. 


31. Q. to Q. B. 4th (ch.) 


31. 


K. to Kt. 2d. 


32. P. to K. R. 3d. 


32. 


Q. to Q. R. 8th (ch.) 


33. K. to R. 2d. 


33. 


Q. to Q. B. 6th. 


34. Q. to K. 6th. 


34. 


Q. to Q. B. 4th. 


35. Q. to K. Kt. 4th (ch.) 


35. 


K. to R. sq. 


36. Q. to K. Kt. 6th. 


36. 


Q. to K. B. sq. 


37. B. to B. 5th. 


37. 


Q. to Kt. 2d. 


38. K. to Kt. sq. 


38. 


Q. takes Q. 


39. B. takes Q. 


39. 


B. to Q. 4th. 


40. B. to B. 2d. 


40. 


P. to Q. 6th. 


41. B. takes Q. P. 


41. 


B. takes Q. Kt. P. 


42. B. to Q. R. 6th. 


42. 


K. to Kt. 2d. 


43. P. to K. B. 3d. 


43. 


K. to B. 2d. 


44. K. to B. 2d. 


44. 


K. to K. 3d. 


45. K. to K. 3d. 


45. 


K. to Q 3d. 


46. P. to Kt. 4th. 


46. 


B. to K. 3d. 


47. P. to R. 4th. 


47. 


B. to B. 2d. 


48. P. to Kt. 5th. 


48. 


B. P. takes P. 


49. B. P. takes P. 


49. 


R. P. takes P. 


50. R. P. takes P. 


50. 


K. to B. 4th. 


51. P. to B. 4th. 


51. 


P. to Kt. 4th. 


52. P. to B. 5th. 


52. 


P. to Kt. 5th. 


53. P. to Kt. 6th. 


53. 


B. to K. sq. 


54. B. to Q. 3d. 


54. 


K. to Q. 3d. 


55. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


55. 


K. to K. 2d. 


56. P. to Kt. 7th. 


56. 


B. to B. 2d. 


57. B. takes B. 


57. 


K. takes B. 


58. P. to K. B. 6th. 


58. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


59. K. to Q. 3d. 


59. 


P. to R. 5th. 


60. K. to B. 4th. 


60. 


P. to R. 6th. 


61. K. to Kt. 3d. 







And the game was drawn.^ 



* Time, six hours and a half. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



157 



GAME VII.— BISHOP'S G-AMBIT. 
Fourth Game hetween Kennicott and Eaphael. 



Eaphael. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to K. B. 4th. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. K. to B. sq. 

5. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

7. K. to Kt. 2d. 

8. R. P. takes P. 

9. P. to Q. 4th. 

10. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

11. Q. Kt. to Q. 5th. 

12. K. R. to K. sq. 

13. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

14. P. to K. 5th. 

15. Q. takes B. 

16. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

17. K. B. to K. B. 5th. 

18. Kt. to Q. R. 4th. 

19. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 

20. Kt. to Q. B. 5th.* 

21. Q. B. to Kt. 4th. 

22. Q. B. takes Kt. 

23. Q. B. to Q. 6th. 

24. K. B. to R. 3d. 

25. Q. to R. 3d. 

26. Q. to Q. B. 5th. 

27. P. to K. 6th. 

28. K. R. takes P. 

29. Q. R. to K. sq. 

30. K. R. to K. 8th (ch.) 

31. R. takes Q. 

32. K. B. takes Kt. 

33. B. to K. 5th. 



Kennicott. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. takes P. 

3. Q. to K. R. 5th (ch.) 

4. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

5. K. B. to Kt. 2d. 

6. P. takes P. 

7. Q. to R. 3d. 

8. Q. to K. Kt. 3d. 

9. P. to Q. 3d. 

10. P. to K. R. 3d. 

11. K. to Q. sq. 

12. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

13. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 

14. Q. B. takes K. Kt. (ch.) 

15. P. to Q. 4th. 

16. Q. to K. 3d. 

17. Q. to K. 2d. 

18. Q. Kt. to R. 3d. 

19. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

20. Q. Kt. takes Kt. 

21. B. to B. sq. 

22. Q. to K. sq. 

23. Kt. to K. 2d. 

24. B. to Kt. 2d. 

25. P. to Q. R. 4th, 

26. Kt. to Q. B. sq. 

27. B. P. takes P. 

28. Q. to Q. 2d. 

29. Q. R. to R. 3d. 

30. Q. takes K. R. 

31. K. R. takes R, 

32. K. takes B. 

33. B. takes B. 



* We should have preferred 26. Kt. to Q. B. 3d. 



158 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Eaphael. 


Kennicott. 


34. 


P. takes B. 


34. K. to Kt. 2d. 


35. 


Q. to Q. 6th. 


35. K. to Kt. 3d. 


36. 


Q. takes K. E. P. 


36. K. R takes K. P, 


37. 


K. to B. 3d. 


37. Q. E. to E. 2d. 


38. 


Q. to Q. 6th. 


38. Q. E. to K. 2d. 


39. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


39. P. to Q. E. 5th. 


40. 


Q. to Q. 8th (ch.) 


40. K. to B. 4th. 


41. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


41. E. P. takes P. 


42. 


K. P. takes P. 


42. K. E. to K. 5th. 


43. 


Q. to K. K. 8th. 






Black mates ir 


I four moves.* 



aAME YIII.— SICILIAN OPENINa. 

Fifth Game between Kennicott and Eaphael. 



Kennicott. 




Eaphael. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


B. P. takes P. 


4. K. Kt. takes P. 


4. 


P. to K. 3d. 


5. K. Kt. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


5. 


P. to Q. E. 3d. 


6. K. Kt. to Q. 6th (ch.) 


6. 


K. B. takes Kt. 


7. Q. takes K. B. 


7. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


8. P. to K. 5th. 


8. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


9. P. to K. B. 4th. 


9. 


B. P. takes P. 


10. Q. to Q. B. 7th.t 


10. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


11. Q. takes Q. (ch.) 


11. 


K. Kt. takes Q. 


12. B. P. takes P. 


12. 


Q. Kt. takes P. 


13. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


13. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


14. Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


14. 


K. Kt. to Q. B. 3d 


15. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


15. 


Castles. 


16. K. B. to K. 2d. 


16. 


Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


17. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


17. 


Q. E. to Q. B. sq. 


18. Q. E. to Q. B. sq. 


18. 


Q. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 



* Time, five hours and ten minutes. 

\ If 10. B. P. takes P. Black would play 11. Q. to K, B. 5th (ch.) etc. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



159 



Kcnnioott. 

19. K. B. to B. 3d. 

20. K. to K. 2d. 

21. K. to K. 3d. 

22. Kt. P. takes Kt. 

23. K. E. to K. Kt. sq. 

24. P. takes P. 



Eaphael. 

19. K. Kt. to K. 4th. 

20. Q. Kt. to B. 5th (ch). 

21. K. Kt. takes B. 

22. P. to K. 4th. 

23. P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

24. P. to Q. 5th (chO 



And Black wins.* 



QAME IX.— SICILIAN OPENINa. 
Sixth Game between Kennicott and Eaphael. 





Eaphael. 




Kennicott. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


P. to K. 3d. 


3. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


4. 


K. P. takes P. 


4. 


K. P. takes P. 


5. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


5. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


6. 


Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


6. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


7. 


Q. B. takes K. Kt. 


7. 


K. B. takes Q. B 


8. 


B. P. takes P. 


8. 


Q. takes P. 


9. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


9. 


Q. to K. 3d (ch.) 


10. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


10. 


K. B. takes P. 


11. 


K. Kt. takes K. B. 


11. 


P. takes K. Kt. 


12. 


Q. takes P. 


12. 


Castles. 


13. 


Castles (K. E.) 


13. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


14. 


Q. to K. B. 4th. 


14. 


Q. to K. 4th. 


15. 


Q. takes Q. 


15. 


Kt. takes Q. 


16. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


16. 


Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


17. 


Kt. to Q. 5th. 


17. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


18. 


P. to K. E. 3d. 


18. 


Kt. to K. E. 3d. 


19. 


B. to Q. B. 4th. 


19. 


B. to K. 3d. 


20. 


Kt. to K. 7th (ch.) 


20. 


K. to B. 2d. 


21. 


B. takes B. (ch.) 


21. 


K. takes B. 


22. 


K. E. to K. sq. (ch.) 


22. 


K. to B. 2d. 


23. 


K. E. to K. 5th. 


23. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d. 



* Time, one hour and forty minutes. 



i6o 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Eaphael. 




Kennicott. 


24. Kt. to Q. 5th. 


24. 


Kt. to Kt. sq 


25. p. to K. Kt. 4th. 


25. 


B. p. takes P. 


26. K. P. takes P. 


26. 


Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 


27. Q. E. to K. sq. 


27. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


28. K. R. takes K. R. 


28. 


Q. R. takes K. R. 


29. R. takes R. 


29. 


K. takes R. 


30. K. to B. 2d. 


30. 


K. to Q. 2d. 


31. K. to B. 3d. 


31. 


K. to Q. 3d. 


32. Kt. to K. 3d. 


32. 


Kt. to B. 3d. 


33. P. to K. Kt. 5th. 


33. 


Kt. to Q. 4th. 


34. Kt. to Q. B. 4th (ch.) 


34. 


K. to B. 4th. 


35. Kt. to K. 5th. 


35. 


K. to Q. 3d. ' 


36. K. to K. 4th. 


36. 


K. to K. 3d. 


37. P. to Q. R. 3d. 


37. 


Kt. to K. 2d. 


38. Kt. to Q. 3d. 


38. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


39. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


39. 


Kt. to K. B. 4th. 


40. P. to Q. R. 4th. 


40. 


Kt. to Q. 3d (ch.) 


41. K. to B. 3d. 


41. 


K. to Q. 4th. 


42. Kt. to K. 5th. 


42. 


Kt. to K. B. 4th. 


43. P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


43. 


K. to B. 4th.* 


44. Kt. to Q. 7th (ch.) 


44. 


K. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


45. Kt. to K. B. 8th. 


45. 


K. takes R. P. 


46. Kt. takes R. P. 


46. 


K. takes Kt. P. 


47. Kt. to K. B. 8th. 


47. 


Kt. to K. 2d. 


48. Kt. takes P.t 


48. 


Kt. takes Kt. 


49. P. to K. B. 5th. 


49. 


Kt. to K. R. 5th (ch.) 


50. K. to Kt. 4th. 


50. 


Kt. takes P. 


51. K. takes Kt. 


51. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


52. P. to K. Kt. 6th. 


52. 


P. to R. 5th. 


53. P. to Kt. 7th. 


53. 


P. to R. 6th. 


54. P. to Kt. 8th (Q.) 






And Dr. Raphael win 


s in the First Section.t 



* This loses a game which should have been drawn, 
f From this point White proceeds to finish the game with a good deal of 
spirit. 

J Time, four hours. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



161 



QAME X.— aiUOCO PIANO. 
First Game between Montgomery and Allison. 



1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17, 
18. 
19. 
20, 



Allison. 

P. to K. 4th. 

K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

P. to Q. B. 3d. 

P. to Q. 3d. 

P. to Q. R. 3d.* 

K. P. takes P. 

Castles. 

P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

K. Kt. takes K. P. 

Q. to K. R. 5th. 

K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. (ch.) 

Q. to K. 5th. 

Q. B. to K. R. 6th. 

Q. B. to K. 3d. 

B. P. takes Kt. 

K. takes R. 

Q. P. takes Q. B. 

K. to K. sq. 

And White 



Montgomery, 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

5. Castles. 

6. P. to Q. 4th. 

7. K. Kt. takes Q. P. 

8. K. to R. sq. 
K. B. to Kt. 3d. 
Q. Kt. to K. 2d. 
Q. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 

12. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

13. B. P. takes Kt. 

14. Q. to Q. 2d. 

15. K. R. to B. 3d. 

16. Kt. takes Q. B. 

17. K. R. takes K. R, 

18. Q. B. takes B. 

19. Q. to Q. 6th (ch.) 

20. R. to K. B. sq.t 

resigns.}: 



9. 
10. 
11. 



(ch.) 



GAME XI.—SCOTCH GAMBIT. 
Second Game between Montgomery and Allison. 



Montgomery. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. P. to Q. 4th. 

4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 



Allison. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. P. takes P. 

4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 



* Too tame ; he should have Castled instead. 

f The whole termination is conducted with vigor and accuracy by the 
second player. if Time, two hours. 



l62 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Montgomery. 




Allison. 


5. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 5th.* 


5. 


K. Kt. to R. 3d. 


6. 


K. Kt. takes B. P. 


6. 


K. Kt. takes K. Kt 


7. 


K. B. takes K. Kt. (ch.) 


7. 


K. takes K. B. 


8. 


Q. to K. R. 5th (ch.) 


8. 


P. to Kt. 3d. 


9. 


Q. takes K. B. 


9. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


10. 


Q. to Q. E. 3d. 


10. 


P. to Q. R. 3d.t 


11. 


Castles. 


11. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


12. 


Kt. to Q. 2d. 


12. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


13. 


Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


13. 


K. to Kt. 2d. 


14. 


Q. to Q. 3d. 


14. 


B. to K. 3d. 


15. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


15. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


16. 


Kt. takes Q. P. 


16. 


Q. P. takes P. 


17. 


Kt. takes Kt.t 


17. 


P. takes Q. 


18. 


Kt. takes Q. 


18. 


Q. R. takes Kt. 


19. 


B. P. takes P. 


19. 


Q. R. takes P. 


20. 


B. to Kt. 2d (ch.) 


20. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


21. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


21. 


K. R. to Q. sq. 


22. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


22. 


K. to B. 2d. 


23. 


Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 


23. 


K. R. to Q. 2d. 


24. 


Q. R. to Q. B. 6th. 


24. 


Q. R. to Q. 3d. 


25. 


K. R. to Q. B. sq. 


25. 


Q. R. to Q. 7th. 


26. 


K. R. to Q. B. 2d. 


26. 


Q R. takes K. R. 


27. 


Q. R. takes Q. R. 


27. 


B. to Q. 4th. 


28. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


28. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


29. 


K. to B. 2d. 


29. 


K. to K. 3d. 


30. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


30. 


R. to K. B. 2d. 


31. 


R. to K. 2d (ch.) 


31. 


K. to Q. 2d. 


32. 


B. to K. 5th. 


32. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


33. 


K. to K. 3d. 


33. 


P. to Q. B. 5th. 


34. 


K. to Q. 4th. 


34. 


K. to Q. B. 3d. 


35. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


35. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


36. 


P. to Q. R. 3d. 


36. 


P. to Q. R. 5th. 


37. 


R. to K. B. 2d. 


37. 


B. to K. R. 8th. 


38. 


K. to B. 3d. 


38. 


R. to Q. 2d. 



* The best analysts consider this attack slightly weaker than the move of 
5. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

f He should have played Rook to King's square. 

X 11. Kt. takes B. (ch.) followed by 18. Q. to K. R. 3d would have been 
better chess. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



16: 





Montgomery. 




Allison. 


39. 


B. to Q. 4th.* 


39. 


E. to K. 2d. 


40. 


p. to K. B. 5th. 


40. 


Kt. P. takes P. 


41. 


E. takes P.t 


41. 


B. to Q. 4th. 


42. 


B. to K. 5th. 


42. 


B. to K. 5th. 


43. 


K. to B. 6th (ch.) 


43. 


K. to Q. 4th. 


44. 


B. toK. B. 4th. 


44. 


B. to Kt. 3d. 


45. 


E. to Q. Kt. 6th. 


45. 


K. to K. 5th. 


46. 


B. to K. E. 2d. 


46. 


B. to K. sq. 


47. 


P. to K. E. 4th. 


47. 


K. to B. 6th. 


48. 


P. to K. Kt. 5th. 


48. 


E. to K. 6th (ch.) 


49. 


K. to Q. 4th4 


49. 


E. takes E. P. 


50. 


P. to K. E. 5th. 


50. 


E. to Q. 6th (ch.) 


51. 


K. to Q. B. 5th. 


51. 


P. to Q. B. 6th. 


52. 


B. to K. 5th. 


52. 


K. to K. 5th. 


53. 


E. to Q. 3d. 


53. 


E. takes E. 


54. 


K. takes E. 


54. 


P. to B. 7th. 


55. 


B. to Q. Kt. 2d. 


55. 


B. takes E. P. 


56. 


K. to Q. B. 5th. 


56. 


B. to K. 7th. 


57. 


B. to Q. B. sq. 


57. 


B. to Q. B. 5th. 


58. 


K. to Q. 6th. 


58. 


K. to Q. 6th. 


59. 


K. to K. 5th. 


59. 


K. to K. 7th. 




And White 


resigned.! 



GAME XII.— aiUOCO PIANO. 
Third Game between Montgomery and Allison. 



Allison. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 



Montgomery. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 



* It would not answer* to allow Black to post his Rook at Queen's sixth ; 
and if he had played 39. R. to Q. 2d, Black's proper policy would have been, 
not to exchange Rooks, but to moVe 39. R. to Q. 4th. 

f 41. P. takes P. Was assuredly preferable ; for White might have followed 
it up with the advance of the Pawn to Bishop's sixth, where it would have 
been supported both by the Rook and Bishop 

X If 49. K. to Kt. 2d Black could play 49. P. to Q. B. 6th winning imme- 
diately. 

§ Time, three hours and a quarter. 



164 Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Allison. 




Montgomery. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. 


Castles. 


4. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


5. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


6. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


6. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


7. 


P. to Q. E. 4th. 


7. 


P. to Q. R. 3d. 


8. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


8. 


K. B. to Q. R. 2d. 


9. 


P. to Q. R. 5th. 


9. 


Castles. 


10. 


Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


10. 


Q. Kt. toK. 2d. 


11. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


11. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


12. 


K. to R. sq.* 


12. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


13. 


K. P. takes P. 


13. 


B. P. takes P. 


14. 


K. Kt. takes K. P. 


14. 


P. takes K. B. 


15. 


Q. takes B. P. 


15. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


16. 


Q. to K. B. 4th. 


16. 


Q. Kt. to K. Kt. 3d. 


17. 


Q. to K. R. 2d. 


17. 


Q. Kt. takes K. Kt. 


18. 


Q. takes Kt. 


18. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. sq. 


19. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


19. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


20. 


Q. to Q. B. 2d. 


20. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


21. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


21. 


Kt. to K. R. 4th. 


22. 


K. R. to K. B. 2d.t 


22. 


Q. B. to Q. Kt. 6th. 


23. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


23. 


K. B. to K. B. 5th.l: 




And White 


) resigned.§ 



GAME XIII.— EVANS GAMBIT. 
Fourth Game hetween Montgomery and Allison. 



Montgomery. 


Allison. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 



* White seems to play this game with uniform weakness throughout. This 
move loses a piece at once ; he should have advanced 12. P. to Q. 4th. 

f This is immediate^ fatal ; 22. K. R. to K. sq. would have been vastly 
better, but in any case Black's attack and extra piece must have won in the 
end. 

\ Black's last half-dozen moves could hardly be improved. 

§ Time, one hour. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



165 





Montgomery. 




Allison. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


4. 


K. B. takes Kt. P. 


5. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. R. 4th 


6. 


Castles. 


6. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


7. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


7. 


K. P. takes P. 


8. 


B. P. takes P. 


8. 


K. B. to Kt. 3d. 


9. 


P. to Q. 5th. 


9. 


Q. Kt. to R. 4th.* 


10. 


P. to K. 5th. 


10. 


Q. Kt. takes K. B. 


11. 


Q. toQ. K. 4th (ch.) 


11. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


12. 


Q. takes Q. Kt. 


12. 


Kt. to K. 2d. 


13. 


P. to K. 6th. 


13. 


B. P. takes P. 


14. 


Q. P. takes P. 


14. 


Q. B. to B. 3d. 


15. 


B. to K. Kt. 5th.t 


15. 


Castles.J 


16. 


Q. to K. R. 4th.§ 


16. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


17. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


17. 


P. to K. R. 3d.|| 



* Not a good move, although frequently adopted at this point by M'Donnell 
in his games with La Bourdonnais. Black's play was to retreat his Qaeen's 
Knight to King's second. 

I 15. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th strikes us as preferable. The move in the text 
afforded Black an opportunity (which he very injudiciously neglected) of ex 
changing his Queen's Bishop for White's King's Knight. 

J He should have taken off the King's Knight, thus — 

15. Q. B. takes K. Kt. 



16. Kt. P. takes B. 

17. Q. to K. R. 4th (best). 

18. B. takes Kt. (A.) 

19. Q. to K. R. 5th (ch.) 

20. Q. takes K. R. P. 
and Black has a fine game. 



A. 
I 



16. P. to K. R. 3d. 

17. K. R. to Kt. sq. 

18. Q. takes B. 

19. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

20. Castles. 



18. Kt. to K. B. 4th. 



18. B. to Q. 2d. 
and Black's game is good. 

§ From this point to the end the first player conducts the attack with 
great vigor and determination. 

II Black seems to have no better move on the board ; IT. Q. B. to Q. Kt. 
4th would simply advance his adversary's game, while the capture of tho 
King's Knight would now be utterly useless. 



i66 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Montgomery. 

18. K. E. to K. sq.* 

19. K. Kt. takes P. 

20. Q. to K. E. 7th (ch.) 

21. Q. to K. E. 8th (ch.) 

22. P. to K. 7th (ch.) 

23. K. E. takes K. E. 

24. Q. takes Kt. P. (ch.) 

25. Q. takes Kt. ch. 

26. E. to K. sq. 

27. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 

28. Q. to Q. B. 4th (ch.) 

29. Q. Kt. takes K. B. 

30. E. to K. 6th (ch.) 

And Mr. Montgomery 



Allison. 

18. R. P. takes B. 

19. Q. to Q. B. sq. 

20. K. to B. sq. 

21. Kt. to Kt. sq. 

22. K. E. takes P. 

23. K. takes K. R. 

24. K. to Q. sq. 

25. Q. B. to K. sq. 

26. K. to Q. 2d. 

27. K. to Q. B. 3d. 

28. K. B. to B. 4th. 

29. P. takes Q. Kt. 

wins in the First Section. 



* "We give a diagram of the position previous to this move, by which tha 
reader will see that White made the proper play at this point. 




Games in the Grand Tournament. 



167 



GAME XIY.— QUEEN'S BISHOP'S PAWN'S OPENING. 
First Game between Meek and Fuller. 





Meek. 




Fuller. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


p. to K. 4th. 


2. 


P. to Q. B. 3d.* 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d.t 


3. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


K. Kt. takes K. P. 


4. 


Q. P. takes P. 


4. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th.t 


5. 


Q. to K. Kt. 4th. 


5. 


K. Kt. takes K. B. P. 


6. 


Q. takes K. Kt. P. 


6. 


K. R. to K. B. sq. 


7. 


Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


7. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


8. 


K. P. takes P. 


8. 


K. R. to B. 2d.§ 


9. 


Q. to K. Kt. 8th (ch.) 


9. 


K. B. to B. sq. 


10. 


K. takes K. Kt. 


10. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


11. 


Q. Kt. to R. 3d. 


11. 


Q. to Q. 3d 


12. 


Q. R. to K. sq. (ch.) 


12. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


13. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th.|| 


13. 


Kt. to Q. 2d. 


14. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


14. 


Castles. 


15. 


Q. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


15. 


Q. to Kt. 3d (ch.) 


16. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


16. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


17. 


Q. to K. Kt, 3d. 


17. 


Kt. takes B. P. 


18. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


18. 


Kt. to K. 5th. 


19. 


Q. to K. 5th. 


19. 


K. B. to Kt. 2d. 


20. 


Q. Kt. takes R. P. (ch.) 


20. 


Q. takes Q. Kt. 


21. 


Q. takes Q. B. (ch.) 


21. 


Q. R. to Q. 2d. 


22. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


22. 


B. takes Q. B. P. 


23. 


K. B. takes Q. R. (ch.) 


23. 


R. takes K. B. 



* A safe but not attacking opening. 

f 2. P. to Q. 4th is the strongest reply at Black's command. The move in 
the text, however, may be played without disadvantage. 

if He should have advanced his Queen's Pawn two squares, and the posi- 
tion would have been quite even, 

§ This was not making the best of a bad position, but Black's game was 
past redemption. 

II The coup juste was to bring out the King's Knight to Bishop's third, and 
on the Black Queen checking at Knight's third (the move anticipated by 
White, we presume, when he threw forward his Queen's Knight's Pawn) to 
move Knight to Queen's fourth with a forced won game. 



i68 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Meek. 

24. Kt. to K. 5th. 

25. Q. takes B. 

26. Q. E. to R. sq. 



Fuller. 

24. B. takes Kt. 

25. Q. takes Q. R. P. 



And Black resigns.* 



GAME XV.— KINa'S KNiaHT'S GAMBIT. 
Third Game between Meek and Fuller. 



Meek. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to K. B. 4th. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

5. P. to Q. 4th. 

6. Castles. 

7. K. B. to Q. Kt. 3d.t 

8. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

9. K. B. takes Q. B. 

10. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

11. Q. takes K. P. (ch.) 

12. Q. takes Q. (ch.) 

13. Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

14. Q. Kt. to B. 4th. 

15. P. to K. P. 3d. 

16. P. to K. 5th. 

17. K. Kt. takes K. P. 

18. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

19. K. Kt. to Q. B. 6th (ch.) 

20. B. to Q. R. 3d. 

21. B. to Q. Kt. 2d. 



1. P. 

2. P. 

3. P. 

4. K. 

5. P. 

6. Q. 

7. P. 

8. Q. 

9. B. 

10. K. 

11. Q. 

12. K. 

13. K. 

14. P. 

15. K. 

16. Q. 

17. K. 

18. K. 

19. K. 

20. K. 

21. K. 



Fuller, 
to K. 4th. 
takes P. 
to K. Kt. 4th. 
B. to Kt. 2d. 
to Q. 3d. 
B. to K. 3d.1 
to K. E. 3d, 
Kt. to Q. 2d. 
P. takes B. 
Kt. to B. 3d. 
to K. 2d. 
takes Q. 
Kt. to Kt. 5th. 
to Q. Kt. 3d. 
Kt. to B. 3d. 
P. takes P. 
E. to K. sq. 
to Q. sq. 
to Q. B. sq. 
Kt. to Q. 4th. 
to Kt. 2d. 



* Time, one hour. The second game between these players was not re- 
corded. It was won by Judge Meek. 

f 6. P. to K. R. 3d, the move recommended by all the leading authors, 
would have been far preferable. 

X White neglects to profit by his adversary's mistake. His proper course 
was to exchange Bishops, then advance Pawn to Queen's Bishop's third, and 
follow with Queen to Knight's third, having an excellent game. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



169 



Meek. 

22. K. Kt. to Kt. 4th. 

23. B. P. takes B. 

24. Kt. to K. 5th.* 

25. P. takes Q. Kt. 

26. B. to B. 3d. 

27. B. takes Kt. 

28. Q. R. to Q. sq. 

29. Q. R. to Q. 2d. 

30. K. R. to Q. sq. 

31. K. R. takes K. R. 

32. K. to B. 2d. 

33. K. to B. 3d. 

34. R. to K. 2d. 

35. R. P. takes P. 

36. K. to B. 2d. 

37. K. takes R. 

38. K. to Q. 3d. 

39. P. to Q. R. 4th. 

40. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

41. Kt. P. takes P. 



And 



22. B. 

23. K. 

24. Q. 

25. Kt. 

26. Kt. 

27. K. 

28. Q. 

29. K. 

30. K. 

31. Q. 

32. R. 

33. P. 

34. P. 

35. R. 

36. R. 

37. K. 

38. K. 

39. K. 

40. P. 

41. Kt. 
Black wins.t 



Fuller, 
takes Q. P. (ch.) 
Kt. takes K. Kt. 
Kt. takes Kt. 

to Q. 6th. 
. takes K. P. 
R. takes B. 
R. to K. sq. 
R. to K. 7th. 
R. to K. 8th (ch.) 
R. takes K. R. (ch.) 
to K. 3d. 
to K. R. 4th. 
to Kt. 5th (ch.) 
P. takes P. (ch.) 
takes R. (ch.) 
to B. 3d. 
to Q. 4th. 
to K. 4th. 
to B. 6th. 

P. takes P. 



GAME XVI.— FRENCH OPEOTNa. 

Fourth Game between Meek and Puller. 



Meek4 

1. p. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 

3. P. to K. 5th. 

4. P. to K. B. 4th. 

5. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. P. to Q. B. 3d. 



Fuller. 

1. P. to K. 3d. 

2. p. to Q. 4th. 

3. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

5. Q. to Kt. 3d. 

6. K. Kt. to R. 3d. 



* Had "White reflected for one moment, he surely would not have com- 
mitted so glaring an error. 

f Time, one hour and a half. 

X "We do not understand how one of the players retains the first move 
bhrough the whole of these games (XIV. to XYII), but we follow the record. 

8 



lyo 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Meek. 




Fuller. 


7. 


Q. to Kt. 3d. 


7. 


K. Kt. to B. 4th.* 


8. 


Q. takes Q. 


8. 


E. P. takes Q. 


9. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


9. 


B. P. takes P. 


10. 


K. Kt. takes Q. P. 


10. 


K. Kt. takes K. Kt. 


11. 


B. P. takes K. Kt. 


11. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


12. 


K. B. takes Kt.t 


12. 


Kt. P. takes B. 


13. 


B. to Q. 2d. 


13. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


14. 


B. to B. 3d. 


14. 


P. to Q. B. 5th. 


15. 


Castles. 


15. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


16. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


16. 


B. P. takes P. (in pas.)t 


17. 


E. P. takes P. 


17. 


Q. E. takes Q. E. 


18. 


B. takes Q. K. 


18. 


K. B. toQ. Kt. 5th. 


19. 


B. to B. 3d. 


19. 


K. B. takes B. 


20. 


Kt. takes K. B. 


20. 


Castles. 


21. 


K. to Q. E. sq. 


21. 


E. to Q. B. sq. 


22. 


E. to E. 7th. 


22. 


E. takes Kt. 


23. 


E. takes B. 


23. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


24. 


E. to Kt. 7th. 


24. 


E. takes Kt. P. 




And Black ult 


imately 


won.§ 



GAME XYII.— SCOTCH GAMBIT. 
Fifth Game between Meek and Fuller. 



Meek. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. P. to Q. 4th. 






Fuller. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. P. takes P. 



* Black should have made an exchange of Queens and Pawns, in order 
to leave his antagonist with two doubled and isolated Pawns on the Queen's 
Knight's file. 

f The only move to avoid the loss of a Pawn, for if White play 12. Q. B. 
to K. 3d Black follows with 12. Kt. takes K. P. 

if The necessity of Black's thus getting rid of his passed Pawn is not at all 
obvious. "We willingly confess that we cannot fathom the object of a ma- 
noeuvre so singular. 

§ Time, half an hour. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



171 





Meek. 


Fuller. 


4. 


P. to Q, B. 3d.* 


4. K. Kt. to B. 3d.t 


5. 


p. to K. 5th. 


5. Q. to K. 2d. 


6. 


B. P. takes P. 


6. P. to Q. 3d. 


7. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th 


7. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


8. 


Castles. 


8. Q. P. takes P. 


9. 


K. B. takes Q. Kt. 


9. Q. B. takes K. B. 


10. 


K. Kt. takes K. P. 


10. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


11. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


11. Q. B. to K. 3d. 


12. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


12. Castles. 


13. 


B. to K. 3d. 


13. Kt. to Q. 4th. 


14. 


Q. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


14. P. to Q. R. 3d.t 


15. 


Q. Kt. to Q. R. 7th (ch.) 






And Judge Meek wins 


3 in the First Section. § 



aAME XYIII.— SICILIAN OPENINa 

First Oame between Fiske and Marache. 



Marache. 




Fiske. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


P. to K. 3d. 


3. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


B. P. takes P. 


4. K. Kt. takes P. 


4. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


6. K. B. to Q. 3d. 


6. 


K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


7. Castles. 


7. 


Castles. 


8. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


8. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


9. K. to R. sq. 


9. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


10. K. P. takes P. 


10. 


K. Kt. takes P. 


11. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 


11. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


12. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


12. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


13. Q. Kt. takes K. B.|| 


13. 


Kt. P. takes Q. Kt 



* This method of conducting the Scotch G-ambit is very seldom adopted. 
f 4. P. takes B. P. was probably the best move at his command. 
J White must now win Queen. § Time, half an hour. 

II Injudicious, we think; the three united Pawns must soon become 
powerful. 



172 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Marache. 

14. Q. to Q. R. 4th. 

15. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

16. Q. B. to K. B. 4th. 

17. Kt. to K. 5th. 

18. B. P. takes Kt. 

19. B. to Q. 3d. 

20. Kt. to Q. B. 6th. 

21. Kt. takes Kt. (ch.) 

22. Q. to Q. B. 6th. 

23. Q. P. takes P. 

24. Q. R. to K. sq 

25. Q. takes Q. P. 

26. Q. to K. 4th. 

27. Q. to K. P. 7th (ch.) 

28. Q. R. to K. 3d. 

29. Q. R. to B. 3d. (ch.) 

30. Q. R. to Kt. 3d. 

31. Q. R. takes Kt. P. (ch.) 

32. Q. R. to Kt. 8th. 

33. P. to K. B. 4th. 

34. Q. R. to K. Kt. 3d. 

35. B. to K. 4th. 

36. B. to Q. 3d. 

37. Q. to K. 4th. 

38. Q. R. takes B. (ch.) 

39. Q. takes K. R. (ch.) 

40. Q. to K. 4th. 

41. P. to K. R. 3d. 

42. Q. to Q. Kt. 4th (ch.) 

43. P. to Q. R. 4th. 

44. R. to K. B. 3d. 

45. P. to Kt. 4th.t 

46. P. to K. B. 5th (ch.) 

47. B. P. takes P. (ch.) 

48. Q. to K. sq. (ch.) 



Fiske. 

14. Q. Kt. to K. 2d. 

15. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 

16. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

17. K. Kt. to Q. 5th. 

18. K. R. takes Q. B. 

19. Q. to Q. sq.* 

20. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 

21. Q. takes Kt. 

22. Q. R. to Kt. sq. 

23. K. R. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

24. B. to Q. 2d. 

25. K. R. takes Kt. P. 

26. Q. takes B. P. 

27. K. to B. sq. 

28. Q. to Q. 5th. 

29. K. to K. 2d. 

30. Q. R. to K. B. sq. 

31. K. to Q. sq. 

32. Q. to K. B. 3d. 

33. K. R. to Q. 7th. 

34. B. to Q. B. 3d. 

35. B. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

36. Q. R. to K. B. 2d. 

37. B. takes B. 

38. K. R. takes Q. R. 

39. R. to Q. 2d. 

40. K. to K. 2d. 

41. Q. to K. B. 4th. 

42. K. to B. 2d. 

43. K. to Kt. 3d. 

44. R. to Q. 6th. 

45. Q. to Q. 4th. 

46. K. to B. 2d. 

47. K. takes P. 

48. K. to Q. 2d. 



And White resigns. | 

* It will be seen that Black could not take the Queen's Pawn with Rook, 
f This loses a game which White ought at least to have drawn. 
:|: Time, five hours. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



^73 



GAME XIX.— QUEEN'S GAMBIT KEFUSED. 
Second Game between Fiske and Marache. 



Fiske. 

1. P. to Q. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 
6. P. to K. 3d. 

6. P. to Q. E. 3d. 

7. B. P. takes P. 

8. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

9. K. Kt. to K. 5th. 

10. Q. to E. 4th. 

11. Q. takes R. P. 

12. K. B. takes Q. Kt. (ch.) 

13. Q. takes Q. R. (ch.) 

14. K. Kt. takes Q. 

15. Castles. 

16. K. R. to Q. sq. 

17. P. to K. B. 3d. 

18. P. to K. 4th. 

19. P. to Q. 5th. 

20. B. P. takes P. 

21. K. R. to K. sq. 

22. P. toK. R. 3d. 

23. B. to Q. 2d. 

24. K. R. to K. B. sq. 

25. Q. R. to K. sq.§ 

26. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 



Marache. 

1. P. to Q. 4th. 

2. P. to K. 3d. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

5. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. P. to Q. Kt. 3d.* 

7. K. P. takes P. 

8. Q. B. to Kt. 2d.t 

9. Q. to B. 2d. 

10. Q. R. to B. sq. 

11. Q. R. to R. sq.t 

12. Q. takes K. B. 

13. Q. B. takes Q. 

14. Q. B. takes K. Kt. 

15. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

16. P. to Q. B. 5th. 

17. Castles. 

18. Q. P. takes P. 

19. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 

20. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 

21. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

22. Q. B. to K. R. 4th. 

23. K. B. to K. Kt. 6th. 

24. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

25. P. to K. B. 3d. 

26. Q. B. to Kt. 3d. 



* See a game in the match between Staunton and St. Amant ( Chess Player's 
Companion^ p. 342), where St. Amant moves this Pawn prematurely. 

f 8. Q. B. to Q. 2d, though slightly disadvantageous in other respects, 
would have saved the Pawn. 

X St. Amant, in the game alluded to, here played 11. K. B. to K. 2d. By 
thus moving the Rook Black loses the exchange. 

§ 25. B. to K. B. 4:th would have been at least as strong. 



174 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Fiske. 


Marache. 


27. 


K. to Kt. 2d. 


27. E. to K. sq. 


28. 


Q. R to K. 2d. 


28. Kt. toQ. B. 4tt 


29. 


B. to K. B. 4th. 


29. K. B. takes B. 


30. 


K. E. takes K B. 


30. Kt. to Q. 6th. 


31. 


K. K. to B. sq. 


31. E. to K. 4th. 


32. 


K. to B. 3d. 


32. B. to K. sq. 


33. 


K. E. to Q. Kt. sq. 


33. K. to B. 2d. 


34. 


Q. E. to K. 3d. 


34. Kt. to Q. B. 4th. 


35. 


P. to Q. E. 4th. 


35. Kt. takes E. P. 


36. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


36. B. P. takes P. 


37. 


K. E. takes P. 


37. Kt. takes Kt. 


38. 


Q. E. takes Kt. 


38. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


39. 


Q. E. to B. 7th (ch.) 


39. K. to Kt. 3d. 


40. 


P. to Q. 6th. 


40. B. to K. B. 2d. 


41. 


P. to Q. 7th. 


41. B. takes K. E. 


42. 


P. to Q. 8th (Q.) 






And Wh 


Lte wins.* 



aAME XX.— FEENCH OPENIlSra. 
Thwd Game between Fiske and Marache. 



Marache. 


Fiske. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to K. 3d. 


2. P. to Q. 4th. 


2. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. K. P. takes P. 


3. K. P. takes P. 


4. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


5. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th (ch.) 


6. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


6. Castles. 


7. K. B. to K. 2d. 


7. P. to Q. B. 4th.t 


8. Castles. 


8. Q. P. takes P. 


9. K. B. takes B. P. 


9. K. B. takes Q. Kt. 


10. Kt. P. takes K. B. 


10. B. P. takes P. 


11. Q. B. to E. 3d. 


11. K. E. to K. sq. 


12. Kt. toK. Kt.5th. 


12. B. to K. 3d. 


13. Kt. takes B. 


13. B. P. takes Kt. 


14. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


14. K. Kt. to Q. 4th. 



* Time, four hours and a half. 

] Weak ; he should rather have played 1. Q. B. to K. 3d. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



175 





Marache. 


Fiske. 


15. 


Q. takes Q. Kt. P. 


15. K. Kt. to Q. Kt. 3d 


16. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


16. Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


17. 


B. P. takes P. 


17. Q. R. to Kt. sq. 


18. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


18. K. Kt. to Q. 4th. 


19. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


19. Q. to K. R. 5th. 


20. 


Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 


20. Q. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


21. 


Q. B. to Q. 6th. 


21. Q. R. to Kt. 2d. 


22. 


K. B. to Q. B. 2d. 


22. Q. R. to K. B. 2d. 


23. 


Q. to Q. 3d. 


23. K. Kt. to B. 5th. 


24. 


Q. B. takes K. Kt. 


24. Q. takes Q. B. 


25. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


25. Q. R. to Q. 2d. 


26. 


B. to Q. R. 4th. 


26. K. R. to Q. sq.* 


27. 


B. takes Q. R. 


27. R. takes B. 




And White ul 


timately won. 



GAME XXI.— IRREaULAR OPENHSTG. 
Fourth Game between Fiske and Marache. 



Fiske. 




Marache. 


1. P. to Q. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 3d. 


2. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. P. to K. 3d. 


4. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


5. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


6. P. to Q. R. 3d. 


6. 


K. B. takes Q. Kt. (ch.) 


7. Kt. P. takes K. B. 


7. 


Castles. 


8. K. B. to Q. 3d. 


8. 


Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


9. Castles. 


9. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


10. Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


10. 


Q. Kt. to K. 2d. 


11. Kt. to K. R. 4th. 


11. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


12. P. to K. B. 4th. 


12. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


13. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 


13. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


14. Q. R. to K. sq. 


14. 


K. R. to B. 3d. 


15. P. to K. 4th. 


15. 


K. R. to R. 3d. 



* If the position be correctly recorded why did not Black take the Queen^s 
Pawn with Rook ? 



176 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



16. K. 

17. P. 

18. K. 

19. P. 

20. Q. 

21. Q. 

22. K. 

23. Q. 

24. K. 

25. Q. 

26. Q. 

27. Q. 



Fiske. 
Kt. to B. 3d. 
to K. K. 3d. 
P. takes P. 
to Q. 5th. 
to K. 2d.* 
P. takes P. 
Kt. to Q. 4th. 
to K. 6th (ch.) 
B. takes B. P.t 
to K. 8th. 
to K. 2d. 
to K. 7th. 



16. Q. 

17. K. 

18. K. 

19. P. 

20. Q. 

21. Q. 

22. Q. 

23. K. 

24. K. 

25. K. 

26. Q. 

27. Q. 



Marache. 

E. to K. B. sq. 
Kt. to B. 3d. 
P. takes P. 
to Q. B. 3d. 
Kt. to Kt. 3d. 
takes P. 
to Q. B. 4th. 
to E. sq. 
Kt. to E. 4th. 
Kt. to B. 3d. 
Kt. to K. E. 5th. 
E. to Q. Kt. sq. 



* 20. Q. E. to Q. 6th would have been better, we believe. 
f He should have played 20. Q. takes B. P., having the better game, aa 
mav be seen from the following diagram 




Games in the Grand Tournament. 



177 





Fiske. 


Marache. 


28. 


K. B. to Q. 3d.* 


28. B. takes K. Kt. P. 


29. 


K. E. to B. 2d. 


29. B. takes E. P. 


30. 


P. to K. B. 5th. 


30. K. E. to E. 4th. 


31. 


Q. B. to B. sq. 


31. B. takes P. 


32. 


K. B. takes B. 


32. Kt. takes B. 


33. 


Q. Kt. takes Kt. 


33. K. E. takes Kt. 


34. 


B. to K. 3d. 


34. Q. to K. 4th. 


35. 


Q. takes R. P. 


35. Q. to Kt. 6th (ch.) 




And Whit 


e resigns.t 



GAME XXII.--SICILIAN OPEOTNG-. 

Fifth Game between Fiske and Marache. 





Marache. 




Fiske. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. 


p. to Q. 4th. 


2. 


B. P. takes P. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


K. Kt. takes Q.-P. 


4. 


P. to K. 3d. 


5. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


5. 


K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


6. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


6. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 3d 


7. 


Castles. 


7. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


8. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


8. 


Castles. 


9. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


9. 


Q. to Q. B. 2d. 


10. 


K. to E. sq. 


10. 


K. B. to Q. 3d.t 


11. 


K. Kt.toQ. Kt. 5th. 


11. 


Q. to Kt. sq. 


12. 


K. Kt. takes K. B. 


12. 


Q. takes K. Kt. 


13. 


Kt. to Q. B. 4th. 


13. 


Q. to Q. B. 2d. 


14. 


Q. B. to B. 5th. 


14. 


Q. Kt. to K. 2d. 


15. 


Q. B. to Q. 6th. 


15. 


Q. to Q. B. 3d. 


16. 


P. to K. 5th. 


16. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


17. 


Kt. to Q. E. 5th. 


17. 


Q. to Kt. 3d. 



* We are inclined to think that 28. K. B. to Kt. 4th would still have saved 
the game. 

f Time, three hours. 

\ Yery bad, bringing with it a chain of immediate disasters, which virtu- 
ally gave White a won game at the outset. 



178 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Marache. 

18. K. B. to K. 4th. 

19. Q. B. takes K. 

20. P. to K. B. 4th. 

21. B. to Q. B. 2d. 

22. Q. to Q. 4th. 

23. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 

24. K. E. to B. 2d. 

25. Q. to Q. 2d. 

26. Kt. to Q. 4th. 

27. Kt. takes Q. Kt. P. 

28. Kt. to Q. 6th. 

29. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

30. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

31. P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

32. Q. R. to K. sq. 

33. Q. R. to K. 3d. 

34. P. to K. R. 3d. 

35. K. to R. 2d. 

36. Q. R. to K. 2d. 

37. Q. takes Q. Kt. 

38. R. takes K. P. 

39. P. to Q. B. 5th. 

40. P. to Q. R. 4th. 

41. P. to R. 5th. 

42. P. to Kt. 6th. 

43. R. P. takes P. 

44. Q. to Q. 2d. 

45. Q. to K. 3d. 

46. Q. to K. B. 2d. 

47. Q. to K. R. 4th. 

48. R. to K. B. 2d. 

49. Q. takes Q. 

50. B. to Q. R. 4th. 

51. B. takes B. 

52. P. to Kt. 7th. 

53. R. to K. 2d. 

54. K. to Kt. 3d. 

55. K. to B. 4th. 

56. R. to K. 3d. 



Fkke. 

18. Q. R. to Kt. sq. 

19. Q. takes Q. B. 

20. P. to K. B. 4th. 

21. Q. Kt. to Q. 4th. 

22. Q. to B. 2d. 

23. B. to Kt. 2d. 

24. B. to B. 3d. 

25. Q. to Q. sq. 

26. B. to Kt. 2d. 

27. K. Kt. to R. 5th. 

28. B. to Q. B. 3d. 

29. Q. Kt. to K. 2d. 

30. K. to R. sq. 

31. B. to Q. R. sq. 

32. Q. Kt. to Kt. sq. 

33. Q. Kt. to K. R. 3d. 

34. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

35. Kt. P. takes P. 

36. P. to K. B. 6th. 

37. P.. takes R. 

38. Q. to K. 2d. 

39. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 

40. B. to Q. 4th. 

41. Q. to Q. sq. 

42. R. P. takes P. 

43. Q. to Q. R, sq. 

44. Q. to R. 6th. 

45. Q. to Kt. 5th. 

46. Kt. to K. B. 5th. 

47. Q. to Q. 5th. 

48. Kt. to K. 7th. 

49. Kt. takes Q. 

50. B. to Q. B. 3d. 

51. Kt. takes B. 

52. R. to Q. Kt. sq. 

53. K. to Kt. 2d. 

54. K. to B. sq. 

55. K. to K. 2d. 

56. Kt. to Q. R. 4th. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



179 





Marache. 


Fiske. 


57. 


E. to K. Kt. 3d. 


57. K. to B. sq. 


58. 


K. to Kt. 5th. 


58. K. to K. 2d. 


59. 


K. to E. 6th. 


59. K. to Q. sq. 


60. 


E. to Kt. 8th (ch.) 






And Mr. Marache wins in the First Section. 



GAME XXIII.— aiUOCO PIANO. 

First Game hetiveen Lichtenhein and Stanley. 





Stanley. 




Lichtenhein. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


4. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


5. 


P. to K. E. 3d. 


5. 


P. to K. E. 3d. 


6. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


6. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


7. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


7. 


K. B. to Kt. 3d. 


8. 


Castles. 


8. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


9. 


K. B. to Kt. 3d. 


9. 


Castles. 


10. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


10. 


K. Kt. to E. 2d. 


11. 


K. Kt. to E. 2d.* 


11. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 5th. 


12. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


12. 


Q. B. takes K. B. 


13. 


E. P. takes B. 


13. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


14. 


K. P. takes P. 


14. 


K. E. takes P. 


15. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 4th. 


15. 


Q. to K. E. 5th. 


16. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 5th. 


16. 


Q. E. to K. B. sq. 


17. 


Q. Kt. takes B. 


17. 


E. P. takes Q. Kt. 


18. 


B. takes Q. Kt. 


18. 


K. P. takes B. 


19. 


Q. E. to K. sq. 


19. 


Kt. to Kt. 4th.t 



* White appears to weaken his position, and lose time by this move, sin 
it allows his adversary to play at once 11. Q. Kt. to Q. 5th. 
f Black now threatens to win a Pawn by 

20. Q. takes E. P. 



21. Kt. P. takes Q. 

22. K. to Kt. 2d. 



21. Kt. to K. B. 6th (ch.) 

22. Kt. takes Q. 



and can afterwards extricate his Knight by playing it to King's Bishop's sixth. 



i8o 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



20. P. 

21. B. 

22. R. 

23. K. 

24. Q. 

25. Q. 

26. Q. 

27. Q. 

28. Q. 

29. R. 

30. K. 

31. R. 



Stanley. 

to K. B. 4th. 
P. takes Kt. 
P. takes P. 
R. takes K. R. 
to K. 2d. 
to K. 6th (ch.) 
to K. 8th (ch.) 
to K. 6th (ch.) 
to R. 3d (ch.) 
to K. 4th. 
to R. 2d. 
takes Q. P.* 



Lichtenhoin. 

20. P. to K. R. 4th. 

21. R. P. takes Kt. 

22. Q. takes P. at Kt. 6th. 

23. Q. takes K. R. 

24. Q. takes Kt. P. 

25. R. to K. B. 2d. 

26. R. to K. B. sq. 

27. K. to R. 2d. 

28. K. to Kt. 3d. 

29. Q. to B. 8th (ch.) 

30. R. to K. B. 4th. 

31. Q. takes B. P. 



♦ We think that in this position 




White would have done better to cheek with the Rook at King's sixth, by 
which he probably could at least have drawn the game. 



Games in the Grand Tournament 



181 



Stanley. 


Lichtenhein. 


32. Q. to K. Kt. 4th (ch.) 


32. K. to B. 3d. 


33. R. to Q. B. 4th. 


33. Q. takes Q. P. 


34. R. takes Q. B. P. 


34. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


35. Q. to K. R. 4th (ch.) 


35. K. to K. 4th. 


36. Q. to K. R. 8th (ch.) 


36. R. to K. B. 3d. 


37. R. to K. B. 7th. 


37. Q. to K. B. 8th. 


38. Q. to K. 8th (ch.) 


38. K. to Q. 4th. 


39. R. takes R. 


39. Q. takes R. 


40. Q. to Q. Kt. 5th (ch.) 


40. K. to K. 3d. 


41. Q. takes P. 


41. Q. to K. 4th (ch.) 


42. K. to Kt. sq.* 


42. Q. to Q. B. 4th (ch.) i 


43. Q. takes Q. 


43. Q. P. takes Q. 


44. K. to B. 2d. 


44. K. to B. 4th. 


45. K. to B. 3d. 


45. K. to Kt. 4th. 


46. K. to Kt. 3d. 


46. P. to Kt. 3d. 


47. K. to B. 3d. 


47. K. to R. 5th. 


48. K. to K. 2d.t 


48. K. to Kt. 6th. 


And Bla 


ck wins.§ 



GAME XXIY.— SCOTCH QAMBIT. 
Second Game between Lichtenhein and Stanley. 



Lichtenhein. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. P. to Q. 4th. 

4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 



Stanley. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. P. takes P. 

4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 



* 42. K. to Kt. 3d was certainly preferable, as it prevented the exchange 
of Queens, and would have made it extremely difficult for Black to win. 

f Black, by the hasty play of his adversary, not only thus effects an ex- 
change of Queens, but also unites his two isolated Pawns on the Queen's side. 
With such an advantage victory was sure to follow sooner or later. 

:|: This is bad, but any other move would not have affected the ultimate 
result. If 48. K. to B. 2d Black finally wins by being able, at the proper 
time, to gain a move with his Queen's Knight's Pawn. 

§ Time, two hours and a half. 



i82 Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Lichtenhein. 


Stanley. 


5. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


5. P. to Q. 6th. * 


6. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 5th.t 


6. K. Kt. to P. 3d. 


7. 


Q. to K. R. 5th.t 


7. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 


8. 


K. B. takes B. P. (ch.) 


8. K. Kt. takes B. 


9. 


K. Kt. takes K. Kt. 


9. K. B. takes B. P. (ch 


10. 


K. takes K. B. 


10. Kt. takes K. Kt. 


11. 


K. P. to K. B. 


11. Castles. 


12. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


12. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


13. 


B. to K. 3d. 


13. P. to Q. 3d. 


14. 


Kt. to Q. 2d. 


14. B. to K. 3d. 


15. 


Q. P. to K. sq. 


15. Q. to Q. 2d. 


16. 


P. to K. P. 3d. 


16. P. to Q. P. 4th. 


17. 


P. to Q, P. 4th. 


17. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


18. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


18. P. to Q. B. 5th. 


19. 


Kt. takes B. P. 


19. B. takes Kt. 


20. 


Kt. P. takes B. 


20. Kt. to K. 4th. 


21. 


B. to Q. 4th. 


21. Q. takes Q. P. P. 


22. 


P. to Q. B. 5th. 


22. P. to Q. 7th. 


23. 


K. P. takes K. R. (ch.)§ 


23. Q. P. takes K. P. 


24. 


P. to Q. sq. 


24. Kt. to K. B. 6th (ch.) 




And Blac 


3k wins.ll 



* Not positively bad, but inferior to the move first suggested by Jsenisch, 
of 5. K. Kt. to B. 3d, reducing the game to a well-known position of the 
Giuoco Piano. The object of Black's fifth move is to prevent White from 
uniting his two Pawns in the centre of the board, and by leaving White's 
Queen's Bishop's Pawn where it now stands, to hinder the movements of the 
adverse Queen's Knight. He also appears to gain time by this move, for 
White must capture the Queen's Pawn within a few moves. But, notwith- 
standing this, we consider the line of play recommended by the distinguished 
Russian analyst as eminently safer for Black. It has, in fact, rendered the 
Scotch G-ambit a much less popular game for the attack than formerly. 

f 6. P. to Q. Kt. 4th, followed by 7. P. to Q. Kt. 5th was the proper play. 



X If 1. Kt. takes K. B. P. 

8. K. takes B. 

9. B. takes Kt. (ch.) 
White may now move 10. R. to K. B. 



T. B. takes K. B. P. (ch.) 

8. Kt. takes Kt. 

9. K. takes B. 

or 10. Q. takes P., with an even 



game. If he play 10. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d (ch.) Black rephes 10. K. to Kt. 3d, 
with a superior game. 

§ 23. Q. R. to Q. sq. was the proper play. 

11 Time, one hour and forty-five minutes. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



183 



G-AME XXY.— SICILIAlSr OPENHSTG-. 
Third Game between Lichtenhein and Stanley. 





Stanley \ 




Lichtenhein. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


2. 


B. P. takes P. 


3. 


Q. takes Q. P. 


3. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


Q. to Q. sq.* 


4. 


P. to K. 3d. 


5. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th 


6. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


6. 


K. Kt. to K. 2d.1 


7. 


Castles. 


7. 


Castles. 


8. 


P. to Q. R. 3d. 


8. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


9. 


K. B. to Q. 3d.t 


9. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


10. 


K. P. takes P. 


10. 


K. Kt. takes P. 


11. 


K. B. takes K. Kt. 


11. 


K. R. takes K. B. 


12. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


12. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


13. 


Q. Kt. to K. 2d. 


13. 


P. to K. 4th. 


14. 


Q. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 


14. 


K. R. to B. 2d. 


15. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


15. 


K. R. to B. 3d. 


16. 


Q. to Q. 3d. 


16. 


K. R. to Kt. 3d. 


17. 


B. to Q. 2d. 


17. 


Kt. to Q. 5th.§ 


18. 


P. to K. R. 4th. 


18. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 



1. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

2. B. P. takes P. 

3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. P. to K. 3d. 



* Although there is not much difference, we slightly prefer the following 
method of conducting the attack; — 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. K. Kt. takes P. 

and so on. The Sicilian G-ame, after having been a universal favorite in the 
German, French, and English schools for a score of years, seems now to be 
gradually losing its hold on the esteem of practical players. There is a grow- 
ing and healthy tendency towards open games. 

■I* 6. K. Kt. to B. 3d would have been at least as good. 

X 9. Q. Kt. to B. 3d was better. 

§ Black, of course, cannot take the King's Knight with Rook on account 
of White's move (after capturing the Rook with Bishop) of Q. takes K. P 
(cb.) etc. 



184 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Stanley. Lichtenhein. 

19. P. to Q. Kt. 4th.* 19. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

20. Q. to Q. B. 3d. 20. R. P. takes P. 

* At this point White could not play 19. P. to Q. B. 4th with safety ; suppose 




19. Q. B. to R. 3d. 

20. P. to K. 5th. 

21. P. to K. R. 3d. 



WHITE. 

19. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

20. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

21. Q. to Kt. sq. (A.) 

22. K. Kt. to R. 3d. 
If 22. K. Kt. to B. 3d then Black plays 22. K. R. takes Q. Kt, followed, 

upon White's capturing the Rook, by 23. Kt. takes Kt. (ch.) 

23. K. R. takes Q. Kt 



24. B. P. takes R. 

25. K. moves 
and Black must win. 

21. Q. to Q. B. 3d. 

22. K. Kt to R 3d. 

23. Q. or B. P. takes K. R. 
winning the Queen. 



24. Kt. takes Q. Kt P. (ch.) 

25. Kt. takes B. 

21. P. to K. R. 3d. 

22. K. R. takes Q. Kt 

23. Kt to K. Ith (ch.) 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



185 





Stanley. 


Lichtenhein. 


21. 


K. P. takes P. 


21. Q. B. takes K. E. 


22. 


E. takes Q. B. 


22. P. to K. E. 3d.* 


23. 


Kt. P. takes B. 


23. E. P. takes K. Kt. 


24. 


B. takes P. 


24. Q. to K. sq. 


25. 


Q. to Q. 3d. 


25. Kt. P. takes P. 


26. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


26. Q. E. to E. 6th. 


27. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


27. Kt. to Kt. 4th. 


28. 


Q. takes Q. P. (ch.) 


28. K. E. to K. 3d. 


29. 


Kt. to K. B. 5th. 


29. Q. E. takes B. P. 


30. 


Kt. to K. 7th (ch.)t 


30. K. to K. B. 2d. 


31. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 






AndWh 


ite wins.t 



GAME XXVI.— QUEEN'S GAMBIT EEFUSED. 

Fourth Game between Lichtenhein and Stanley. 



Lichtenhein. 

1. P. to Q. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. P. to K. 3d. 

5. K. B. takes P. 

6. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

7. Castles. 

8. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

9. Kt. P. takes Kt. 

10. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

11. P. to Q. E. 4th. 

12. K. B. to K. 4th. 

13. Q. to B. 2d. 

14. K. B. takes Kt. 

15. Kt. to K. 5th. 

16. P. to K. B. 4th. 



Stanley. 

1. P. to Q. 4th. 

2. P. to K. 3d. 

3. Q. P. takes P. 

4. K. B. to K. 2d. 

5. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. Castles. 

7. K. Kt. to Q. 4th. 

8. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 

9. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

10. P. to Q. E. 4th. 

11. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

12. Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 

13. P. to K. B. 4th. 

14. Q. B. takes K. B. 

15. Q. to Q. 4th. 

16. Q. to K. 5th. 



* A bad move ; 22. B. to K. 2d was the correct play, and Black would 
have had, in our opinion, the better position, 

f White plays the end-game in good style. X Time, two hours. 



i86 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Lichtenhein. 

17. Q. takes Q. 

18. B. to E. 3d. 

19. Q. R. takes K. B. 

20. K. E. to K. B. 2d. 

21. Q. E. to Kt. 3d. 

22. B. P. takes P. 

23. K. E. to Q. Kt. 2d. 

24. K. to B. 2d. 

25. K. to Kt. 3d. 

26. Q. E. takes Kt. P. 

27. Q. E. takes K. E. 

28. E. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

29. E. takes E. P. 

30. E. to Q. B. 5th. 

31. Kt. to Q. B. 4th. 

32. Kt. to Q. Kt. 6th. 

33. E. to Kt. 5th. 

34. K. to E. 4th. 

35. E. to K. 5th. 

36. E. to Kt. 5th. 

37. E. to Kt. 2d. 

38. P. to K. E. 3d. 

39. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

40. E. P. takes P. 

41. P. to K. 4th. 

42. P. to K. B. 5th. 

43. Q. P. takes P. (ch.) 

44. Kt. to Q. 7th. (ch.) 

45. P. to K. 5th. 

46. E. takes B. 

And Black 



17. Q. 

18. K. 

19. K. 

20. P. 

21. B. 

22. K. 

23. K. 

24. K. 

25. Q. 

26. K. 

27. B. 

28. B. 

29. B. 

30. E. 

31. P. 

32. E. 

33. E. 

34. B. 

35. E. 

36. E. 

37. B. 

38. K. 

39. B. 

40. K. 

41. K. 

42. P. 

43. K. 

44. K. 

45. E. 

resigned.! 



Stanley. 
B. takes Q. 
B. takes B. 
E. to Q. sq. 
to Q. B. 4th. 
P. takes P. 
E. to Q. B. sq.'* 
E. to B. 8th (ch.) 
E. to B. 7th (ch.) 
E. to Q. B. sq. 
E. takes K. E. 
to Q. B. 7th. 
takes E. P. 
to Q. Kt. 6th. 
to Q. E. sq. 
to K. E. 3d. 
to E. 3d. 
to E. 6th. 
to E. 7th. 
to E. 3d. 
to E. 6th. 
to Kt. 6th. 
to B. 2d. 
P. takes P. 
to K. 2d. 
to Q. 3d. 
to K. 4th. 
takes P. 
to B. 5th. 
to Q. E. 7th.t 



* The Queen's Knight's Pawn cannot be saved. 

f Black evidently committed this error under the supposition that if "White 
captured the Bishop he would mate with Eook at King's Rook's seventh. 
We think, however, that, in any case, the passed Pawn of White would have 
won in the end. 

J Time, four hours. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



187 



GAME XXVII.— FKENCH OPENING. 

Fifth Game between Lichtenhein and Stanley. 



Stanley. 

1. P. to K. 4tli. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 

3. K.P. takes P. 

4. K Kt. to B. 3d. 

5. K. B. to K. 2d.* 

6. Castles. 

7. K. Kt. to K. 5th. 

8. P. to K. B. 4th. 

9. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

10. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

11. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 

12. Q. P. takes P. 

13. Q. B. takes K. B. 

14. Q. to Q. 4th. 

15. B. P. takes Q. 

16. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

17. Kt. to E. 3d. 

18. Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 

19. K. R. to Q. sq. 

20. K. R. to K. sq. 

21. B. to Q. 3d. 

22. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

23. Kt. to B. 2d. 

24. P. to Q. R. 3d. 

25. Kt. to K. 3d. 

26. Kt to Q. B. 2d. 

27. Kt. to R. sq. 

28. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 

29. Q. R, to Q. B. 2d. 

30. Q. R. to K. 2d. 

31. Kt. to B. 5th. 

32. Q. P. takes Kt. 

33. K. R. takes K. R, 



Lichtenhein. 

1. P. to K. 3d. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 

3. K. P. takes P. 

4. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

5. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

6. P. to K. R. 3d. 

7. Castles. 

8. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

9. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

10. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

11. Kt. P. takes K. Kt. 

12. K. B. takes B. P. 

13. Q. takes Q. B. (ch.) 

14. Q. takes Q. (ch.) 

15. Q. R. to Kt. sq. 

16. Kt. to K. 5th. 

17. P. to K. B. 4th. 

18. B. to Q. 2d. 

19. K. R. to K. sq. 

20. K. R. to K. 3d. 

21. Q. R. to K. sq. 

22. Q. R. to Q. Kt. sq. 

23. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

24. Q. R. to Kt. 3d. 

25. P. to Q. R. 3d. 

26. K. R. to K. sq. 

27. K. R. to Q. R. sq. 

28. K. to B. 2d. 

29. K. R. to K. sq. 

30. K. R. to K. 3d. 

31. Kt. takes Kt. 

32. K. R. takes Q. R. 

33. R. to Kt. 2d. 



* The proper play is 5. K. B. to Q. 3d. 



i88 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Stanley. 


Lichtenhcin. 


34. 


K. to Kt. 2d. 


34. P. to Q. R. 4th. 


35. 


R. to Kt. sq. 


35. R. P. takes P. 


36. 


R. P. takes P. 


36. K. to K. 2d. 


37. 


K. to B. 2d. 


37. R. to Q. Kt. sq. 


38. 


K. to K. 3d. 


38. K. to K. B. 3d. 


39. 


K. to Q. 4th. 


39. B. to K. sq. 


40. 


K. to Q. B. 3d. 


40. R. to Q. R. sq^. 


41. 


K. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


41. B. to K. B. 2d. 


42. 


K. to B. 3d. 


42. R. to Q. Kt. sq. 


43. 


R. to Q. R. sq. 


43. P. to Q. 5th (ch.) 


44. 


K. takes Q. P. 


44. R. takes Kt. P. (ch.) 


45. 


K. to K. 3d. 


45. B. to Q. 4th. 


46. 


R. to Q. B. sq. 


46. R. to Q. Kt. 7th. 


47. 


B. to K. 2d. 


47. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


48. 


B. P. takes P. 


48. R. P. takes P. 


49. 


P. to Kt. 3d. 


49. K. to K. 4th. 


50. 


P. to R. 4th. 


50. P. to B. 5th (ch.) 




And Mr. Lichtenhein wins in the First Section.* 



GAME XXYIII.— SICILIAN OPENINa. 
First Game between Paulsen and Calthrop. 





Calthrop. 




Paulsen. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. 


P. to K. B. 4th.t 


2. 


P. to K. 3d. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


4. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th (ch.) 


4. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. takes Q. Kt. (ch.) 


5. 


Kt. P. takes B. 


6. 


P. to K. 5th. 


6. 


Q. B. to R. 3d. 


7. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


7. 


K. Kt. to R. 3d. 


8. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


8. 


K. Kt. to B. 4th 



* Time, six and a quarter hours. 

f This was M'Donnell's favorite method of conducting the attack in the 

Sicilian Opening, but it is weaker than the ordinary move of 2. P. to Q. 4th. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



189 



Caltlirop. 
9. Castles. 

10. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

11. K. Kt. to E. 4th. 

12. P. to K. Kt. 5th. 

13. K. Kt. takes Kt. 

14. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d.* 

15. K. E. to B. 2d. 

16. E. P. takes Q. 

17. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

18. B. to K. 3d. 

19. B. to Q. B. 5th. 

20. Kt. P. takes K. B. 

21. Kt. to E. 3d. 

22. Q. E. to K. sq. 

23. P. to K. E. 4th. 

24. P. to K. E. 5th. 

25. K. to E. 2d. 

26. Q. E. to K. Kt. sq. 

27. P. to K. Kt. 6th. 

28. E. P. takes P. 

29. Kt. to Kt. sq. 

30. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

And Black 



Paulsen. 

9. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

10. K. Kt. to E. 3d. 

11. K. B. to K. 2d. 

12. Kt. to B. 4th. 

13. K. P. takes K. Kt. 

14. Q. B. takes Q. P. 

15. Q. takes Q. 

16. P.toQ. B. 5th. 

17. Castles (K. E.) 

18. P. to Q. E. 4th. 

19. K. B. takes B. 

20. K. E. to Kt. sq. 

21. P. to Q. E. 5th. 

22. B. to K. 5th. 

23. Q. E. to E. 4th. 

24. Q. E. takes B. P. 

25. Q. E. to E. 4th. 

26. Q. E. to E. 2d. 

27. B. P. takes P. 

28. P. to K. E. 3d. 

29. Q. E. to Kt. 2d. 

30. Q. E. takes Kt. P. 

wins.t 



GAME XXIX.— SCOTCH GAMBIT. 
Second Gome between Paulsen and Calthrop. 



Paulsen. 


Calthrop. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. K. P. takes P. 


4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th 



* This carelessness loses an important Pawn at once. 
f Time, three hours and a half. 



igo 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Paulsen. 

5. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

6. Castles.t 

7. B. P. takes P. 

8. Q. P. takes K. B. 

9. B. P. takes P. (in pas.) 

10. P. to K. 6th. 

11. K. E. takes Q. 

12. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

13. B. to Q. E. 3d. 

14. B. takes K. Kt. 

15. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

16. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 

17. Q. Kt. to Q. 6th (ch.) 

18. K. Kt. to Q. 4th. 

19. K. E. to K. sq. 

20. Q. E. to Kt. sq. 

21. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

22. Q. Kt. to Q. B. 4th. 

23. Q. Kt. to E. 5th. 

24. P. to K. 6th. 

25. P. to Q. E. 3d. 

26. Q. E. to B. sq. 

27. K. E. to Q. sq. 

28. K. Kt. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

29. K. Kt. to Q. B. 5th. 

30. K. Kt. to Q. 7th. 
K. Kt. takes Q. E. 
Kt. to Kt. 3d. 

33. K. E. to K. sq. 

34. E. takes E. 



31 
32. 



Calthrop. 

5. K. Kt. to B. 3d.* 

6. Q. Kt. to E. 4th.t 

7. Q. Kt. takes K. B. 

8. P. to Q. 4th. 

9. Q. takes P. 

10. Q. takes Q. 

11. K. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

12. Q. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 

13. K. Kt. to K. B. sq. 

14. K. E. takes B. 

15. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

16. Kt. to Q. 4th. 

17. K. to K. 2d. 

18. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

19. Q. E. to Kt. sq. 

20. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 

21. P. to K. B. 3d. 

22. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

23. Q. E. to Kt. 3d. 

24. B. to K. sq. 

25. K. to Q. 3d. 

26. Kt. to K. 2d. 

27. K. to Q. B. 2d. 

28. P. to K. B. 4th. 

29. K. E. to B. 3d. 

30. K. E. takes K. P. 

31. E. P. takes K. Kt. 

32. E. to K. 4th. 

33. E. takes K. E. 

34. K. to Q. 3d. 



* The proper play ; the same position arises in the Giuoco Piano, thus : — 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

5. P. to Q. 4th. 
f Not so strong as 6. P. to K. 5th. 

if We are incHned to think that 6. P. to Q. 3d, though more quiet, would 
have been better in the end. White could not then play P. to K. 5th. 



1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

5. K. P. takes P. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



191 



Paulsen. 

35. Kt. to Q. 4th. 

36. Kt. to Q. B. 2d. 

37. R. to Q. sq. (ch.) 

38. Kt. to K. 3d. 

39. Kt. takes Kt. 

40. P. to K. B. 4th. 

41. R. to Q. B. sq. 

42. R. takes B. P. 



Calthrop. 

35. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

36. B. to K. B. 2d. 

37. Kt. to Q. 4th. 

38. P. to Q. B. 5th. 

39. B. takes Kt. 

40. P. to Q. B. 6th.* 

41. B. to Q. B. 5th. 



And White wins.t 



aAME XXX.— CENTRE COUNTER GAMBIT IN THE 
KNIGHT'S GAME. 

Third Game between Paulsen and Calthrop. 





Calthrop. 




Paulsen. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th, 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


P. to Q. 4th.t 


3. 


K. P. takes P. 


3. 


P. to K. 5th. 


4. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th (ch.)§ 


4. 


P. to Q. B. 3d 


5. 


Q. P. takes P. 


5. 


Kt. P. takes P. 



* Bad ; he should have played 40. K. to B. 3d, and then B. to K. 5th, and 
his chances of a draw would have been very fair. 

\ Time, four hours. 

X This move allows White, with good play, to develop his pieces rapidly, 
and gives Black a disadvantageous position. 

§ This loses a piece ; his proper course was to play 4. Q. to K. 2d, leading 
to the following {Handhuch 3d Ed. p. 62, and Handbook p. 100):— 



4. Q. to K. 2d. 

5. K. Kt. to Q. 4th. 



4. Q. to K. 2d. 

5. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 



If Black play 5. Q. to K. 4th, White would reply with 6. K. Kt. to Q. Kt. 5th, 
in order to play afterwards P, to Q. 4th. 

6. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 6. Q. to K. 4th. 



7. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

8. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

9. Q. to Q. Kt 5th (ch.) 
and White has the better game. 



T. Q. to K. 2d. 

8. Q. B. to K. B. 4th. 



192 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Calthrop. 




Paulsen. 


6. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


6. 


P. takes B. 


7. 


Q. takes K. P. (ch.) 


7. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


8. 


Q. takes Q. 


8. 


K. B. takes Q. 


9. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


9. 


P. to Q. E. 3d. 


10. 


Castles. 


10. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


11. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


11. 


Castles. 


12. 


B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


12. 


Q. E. to E. 2d. 


13. 


K. E. to K. sq. 


13. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


14. 


Q. E. to Q. sq. 


14. 


P. to K. E. 3d. 


15. 


B. takes K. Kt. 


15. 


K. B. takes B. 


16. 


Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 


16. 


K. B. to Q. sq. 


17. 


P. to K. E. 3d. 


17. 


Q. B. to Q. 4th. 


18. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


18. 


Q. E. to K. 2d. 


19. 


K. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


19. 


K. E. to I^. sq. 


20. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


20. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


21. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


21. 


Q. B. to Q. E. sq. 


22. 


P. to Q. 5th. 


22. 


B. P. takes Kt. 




And Mr. Paulsen win 


s in the First Section.* 



G-AME XXXI.— -FEENCH OPENHSTG. 

First Game between Perrin and Knott. 



Perrin. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. p. to Q. 4th. 
8. K. P. takes P. 

4. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

5. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

6. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

7. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

8. P. to K. E. 3d. 

9. Q. takes Q. B. 

10. Castles (K. E.) 

11. K. E. to K. sq. 

12. Q. to K. B. 5th. 



Knott. 

1. P. to K. 3d. 

2. p. to Q. 4th. 

3. K. P. takes P. 

4. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

5. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

6. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

7. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 

8. Q. B. takes K. Kt. 

9. Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

10. P. to K. E. 3d. 

11. Castles. 

12. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 



* Time, three hours. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



193 



Perrin. 




Knott. 


13. Q. to K. B. 3d. 


13. 


K. to Kt. 2d. 


14. Q. to K. 2d. 


14. 


K. Kt. to R. 2d. 


15. Q. to Q. 2d. 


15. 


Q. to K. R. 5th. 


16. Kt. to K. 2d. 


16. 


Q. R. to K. sq. 


17. Kt. to K. B. 4th. 


17. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 4th.* 


18. K. to R. sq.t 


18. 


K. Kt. to K. 5th. 


19. K. B. takes K. Kt. 


19. 


Q. R. takes K. B. 


20. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


20. 


Q. to B. 3d. 


21. P. to K. B. 3d. 


21. 


Q. R. to K. 2d. 


22. K. to Kt. 2d. 


22. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


23. Kt. takes Q. P.J 


23. 


B. P. takes Kt. 


24. B. takes K. R. P. (ch.) 


24. 


K. to R. 2d. 


25. B. to K. Kt. 5tli. 


25. 


Q. R. takes K. R. 


26. Q. R. takes Q. R.§ 


26. 


Q. to K. R. sq. 


27. B.toK. 3d. 


27. 


R. to K. 3d. 


28. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


28. 


Q. to K. sq. 


29. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


29. 


Kt. toK. B. 3d. 


30. P. to Q. B. 5th. 


30. 


B. to B. 2d. 


31. B. to B. 2d. 


31. 


R. takes R. 


32. B. takes R. 


32. 


Q. to K. 3d. 


33. B. to B. 2d. 


33. 


Kt. to R. 4th. 


34. Q. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


34. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


35. B. P. takes P. 


35. 


R. P. takes P. 


36. Q. to Q. 2d. 


36. 


Q. to Q. 3d. 


37. Q. to K. sq. 


37. 


Kt. to Kt. 2d. 


38. P. to Q. R. 4th. 


38. 


Kt. to B. 4th. 


39. Q. to Q. 2d. 






And Black i 


anally won.H 



* If Black play either IT. Q. Kt. to B. 3d, or 17. P. to K. Kt. 4th, White 
wins the Queen at once. 

f To enable him to play P. to K. Kt. 3d, for if he do so now Black would 
capture the Rook's Pawn with Knight, giving check. 

J This combination is altogether unsound. White evidently overlooked, in 
examining the position, Black's twenty-fifth move. He should have played 
23. K. R. to K. 2d, or, perhaps, 23. P. to K. R. 4th. 

§ If he had captured the Queen, Black ,would simply have checked with 
the Queen's Rook, regaining the Queen, and having a piece ahead. 

II Time, three hours and forty minutes. 

9 



194 Games in the Grand Tournament 



GAME XXXII.— QUEEN'S GAMBIT REFUSED. 
Second Game between Perrin and Knott. 



Knott. 

1. P. to Q. 4th, 

2. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. P. to K. 3d. 

5. K. Kt. to B. 3d, 

6. P. to Q. R. 3d. 

7. Q. P. takes P.* 

8. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

9. K. B. to K. 2d. 

10. Castles. 

11. Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 

12. B. P. takes P. 

13. K. Kt. to Q. 4th. 

14. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 

15. K. B. to B. 3d. 

16. Kt. to K. 2d. 

17. B. takes Kt. 

18. Kt. to Q. 4th.t 

19. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

20. Q. to Q. 3d. 

21. Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 
%2, Kt. to K. 2d. 

23. K. R. to Q. sq. 

24. Q. to Q. 4th. 

25. Kt. to K. B. 4th. 

26. Q. R. to Q. B. 2d. 



Perrin. 

1. P. to Q. 4th. 

2. P. to K. 3d. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

5. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. P. to Q. R. 3d. 

7. K. B. takes P. 

8. K. B. to K. 2d. 

9. Castles. 

10. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

11. Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 

12. K. P. takes P. 

13. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

14. Q. B. takes K. Kt. 

15. Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 

16. K. B. to Q. Kt. sq. 

17. Q. takes B. 

18. Q. to K. 4th. 

19. B. to Q. Kt. 2d. 

20. P. to K. B. 4th. 

21. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

22. Q. R. to Q. sq. 

23. Q. R. to Q. 3d. 

24. Q. to K. 2d. 

25. p. R. to Q. sq. 

26. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 



* This is sometimes played, but the more usual move is 7. P. to Q. Kt. 3d, 
succeeded by 8. Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 

f White cannot safely capture the Queen's Pawn ; for suppose 



18. B. takes Q. P. 

19. Kt. to K. B. 4th, 

20. B. takes Q. B. 

21. Q. to K. Kt. 4th. 
and Black must win a piece. 



18. Q. to K. 4th. 

19. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

20. Q. R. takes B. 

21. K. to R. sq. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



195 



Knott. 


Perrin. 


27. Kt. to K. 2d. 


27. Q. to K. 3d. 


28. Q. E. to Q. 2d. 


28. Q. E. to Q. 2d. 


29. Q. to Q. 3d. 


29. K. B. to K. 4th. 


30. Kt. to Q. 4th. 


30. Q. to K. B. 3d. 


31. Kt. takes P. 


31, Q. E. to K. B. 2d. 


32. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


32. P. to K. E. 4th. 


33. P. to K. E. 3d. 


33. P. takes P. 


34. B. takes P. 


34. K. E. to K. B. sq. 


35. Kc. to Q. 4th. 


35. K. B. to Q. B. 2d. 


36. B. to K. 6th. 


36. K. to E. sq. 


37. B. takes Q. E. 


37. E. takes B. 


38. P. to K. B. 3d. 


38. Q. B. to B. sq. ' 


39. Q. to K. B. 5th.* 


39. B. takes Q. 


And Whit 


e resigns.t 







G-AME XXXIII.— FKENOH OPENING. 
Third Game beiwem Peerin and Knott. 



Perrin. 




Knott. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1, 


P. to K. 3d. 


2. P. to Q. 4th. 


2. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


3. K. P. takes P. 


3. 


K. P. takes P. 


4. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th (ch.) 


5. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. 


Q. to K. 2d (ch.) 


6. Q. B. to K. 3d. 


6. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


7. K. B. to Q. 3d. 


7. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


8. P. to Q. B. 5th. 


8. 


Castles. 


9. P. to K. E. 3d. 


9. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


10. Q. E. to B. sq. 


10. 


Kt. P. takes P. 


11. Q. P. takes P. 


11. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


12. K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


12. 


K. E. to Q. sq. 


13. K. Kt. to Q. 4th. 


13. 


Q. Kt. takes K. Kt. 


14. Q. B. takes Q. Kt. 


14. 


Q. B. to Kt 5th (ch.) 



* After such a gross oversight Black of course wins with ease. 
f Time, four hours and fifteen minutes. 



196 Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Perrin. 




Knott. 


15. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


15. 


Q. B. takes K. B. 


16. 


Q. takes B. 


16. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


17. 


Q. takes Q. 


17. 


K. R. takes Q. (ch.) 


18. 


K. to Q. sq. 


18. 


B. takes Kt. 


19. 


Kt. P. takes B. 


19. 


K. R. to K. 3d. 


20. 


K. to Q. 2d. 


20. 


Kt. to K. 5th (ch.) 


21. 


K. to Q. 3d. 


21. 


K. R. to Q. B. 3d. 


22. 


K. E. to K. sq. 


22. 


Kt. takes Q. B. P. (ch.) 


23. 


B. takes Kt. 


23. 


R. takes B. 


24. 


K. to Q. 4th. 


24. 


K. R. to Q. R. 4th. 


25. 


K. K. to K. 2d. 


25. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


26. 


Q. R. to Q. Kt. sq. 


26. 


P. to Q. B. 4th (ch.) 


27. 


K. to Q. 3d. 


27. 


P. to Q. 5th. 


28. 


Q. R. to Kt. 7th. 


28. 


K. R. to R. 6th. 


29. 


Q. R. to Kt. 3d. 


29. 


K. R. to R. 5th. 


30. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


30. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


31. 


K. R. to K. 7th. 


31. 


K. to R. sq. 


32. 


Q. R. to Kt. 7th. 


32. 


K. R. to R. 6th (ch.) 




And the game was finally drawn.* 



GAME XXXIY.— FRENCH OPEOTNa. 

Fourth Game between Perrin a7id Knott. 





Perrin. 


Knott 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. p. to K. 3d. 


2. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


2. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


P. takes P. 


3. P. takes P. 


4. 


K Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. K. B. to Q. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


5. Q. B. to K. 3d. 


6. 


Castles. 


6. P. to K. R. 3d. 


7. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


7. K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


8. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


8. Castles. 


9. 


P. to Q. B. 4&. 


9. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


LO. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


10. Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 



* The game was only recorded to this point. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



197 





Perrin. 




Knott. 


11. 


Q. E. to B. sq. 


11. 


Q. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


12. 


p. to K. E. 3d. 


12. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 


13. 


K. B. takes K. Kt. 


13. 


B. P. takes B. 


14. 


P. to Q. B. 5th. 


14. 


K. B. toQ. B. 2d. 


15. 


Q. B. takes K. E. P. 


15. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


16. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


16. 


Q. E. to K. sq. 


17. 


K. Kt. to K. 5th. 


17. 


K. B. takes K. Kt. 


18. 


Q.JP. takes B. 


18. 


Kt. to K. 5th. 


19. 


Kt. takes Kt. 


19. 


Q. P. takes Kt. 


20. 


Q. to K. 3d. 


20. 


B. to Q. 4th. 


21. 


B. to Q. B. 3d. 


21. 


K. E. to K. B. 4th. 


22. 


Q. E. to Q. sq. 


22. 


Q. to K. 3d. 


23. 


P. to K. B. 3d.* 


23. 


K. P. takes P. , 


24. 


Kt. P. takes P. 


24. 


K. E. to E. 4th. 


25. 


Q. E. to Q. 2d. 


25. 


Q. takes Q. E. P. 


26. 


Q. E. to K. Kt. 2d. 


26. 


Q. E. to K. B. sq. 




And Black finally won.t 



GAME XXXY.— FIANCHETTO OPENHsTG-. 

Sixth Game between Perrin and Knott. { 



Knott. 

1. P. to Q. 4th. 

2. P. to K. 4th. 

3. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

4. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

5. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. Castles. 

7. P. to Q. E. 4th. 

8. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

9. Q. takes Kt. 
10. B. to K. 3d. 



Perrin. 

1. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

2. Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 

3. P. to K. 3d. 

4. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

5. P. to Q. 3d. 

6. Q. to Q. 2d. 

7. Q. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

8. Q. Kt. takes K. B. 

9. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 
10. K. B. to Kt. 2d. 



* This move leads to the immediate loss of the game. 
f Time, one hour and a half. 

X The fifth game between these players was recorded in such a way as to 
be wholly unintelligible. It was drawn. 



198 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Knott. 




Perrin. 


11. K. K. to Q. sq. 


11. 


Kt. to K. 2d. 


12. P. to Q. 5th. 


12. 


Castles (K. R.) 


13. B, to K.,B. 4th.* 


13. 


P. to K. 4th. 


14. B. to Kt. 3d. 


14. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


15. K. P. takes P. 


15. 


Kt. takes P. 


16. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 


16. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


17. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


17. 


B. P. takes P. 


18. B. P. takes P. 


18. 


Kt. to K. 2d. . 


19. K. Kt. to K. 6th. 


19. 


Q. B. takes P.t 


20. K. Kt. takes K. E. 


20. 


Q. R. takes K. Kt. 


21. B. to K. R. 4th. 


21. 


Q. B. takes Kt. 


22. Q. takes Q. B. 


22. 


R. to K. B. 5th. 


23.- Q. to R. 8th (ch.) 


23. 


R. to B. sq. 


24. Q. to K. 4th. 


24. 


P. to Q. 4th.J: 


25. B. takes Kt. 


25. 


Q. takes B. 


26. Q. takes Q. P. (ch.) 


26. 


K. to R. sq. 


27. Q. R. to R. 3d. 


27. 


Q. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


28. Q. R. to K. B. 3d. 


28. 


Q. takes Kt. P. 


29. Q. R. takes R. (ch.) 


29. 


B. takes R. 


30. Q. to K. B. 7th. 


30. 


Q. to Kt. 5th. 


31. P. to K. R. 3d. 


31. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


32. Q. takes Q. 


32. 


B. takes Q. 


33. R. to Q. 7th. 


33. 


B. to Q. B. 4th. 


34. R. takes Q. R. P. 


34. 


B. to Q. 5th. 


35. K. to B. sq. 


35. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


36. P. to B. 3d. 


36. 


P. to R. 3d. 


37. K. to K. 2d. 


37. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


38. K. to Q. 3d. 


38. 


P. to R. 4th. 


39. K. to Q. B. 4th.§ 


39. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th (ch.) 


40. K. takes P. 


40. 


B. takes R. 


And Whit 


;e resigns.! 



* This was scarcely advisable. 

f We do not see the necessity of thus giving up the exchange. 
X This move loses a Pawn outright. 

§ Throwing away a game which he ought to have won without much 
difficulty. 

II Time, three hours and a half. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



199 



aAME XXXYI.— IRREGULAR OPENINa 

Seventh Game between Perrin and Knott. 





Perrin. 




Knott. 


1. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


2. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


2. 


P. to K. 3d. 


3. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


P. to K. 3d. 


4. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


6. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


5. 


Castles. 


6. 


P. to Q. R. 3d. 


6. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


7. 


K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


7. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


8. 


Castles. 


8. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


9. 


B. P. takes P. 


9. 


B. P. takes P. 


10. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


10. 


Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


11. 


K. Kt. to B. 4th. 


11. 


Q. B. to B. sq. 


12. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


12. 


K. to R. sq. 


13. 


K. to R. sq. 


13. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


14. 


K. Kt. to R. 3d. 


14. 


P. to K. Kt. 5th. 


15. 


K. Kt. to B. 4th. 


15. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


16. 


B. P. takes P. 


16. 


K. Kt. takes P. 


17. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


17. 


Q. to K. R. 5th. 


18. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


18. 


K. B. takes K. Kt. 


19. 


Q. takes B. 


19. 


Q. to K, R. 3d. 


20. 


Q. takes Q. 


20. 


K. Kt. takes Q. 


21. 


P. to K. 4th.* 


21. 


Q. P. takes P. 


22. 


K. B. takes K. P. 


22. 


B. to Q. R. 3d. 


23. 


K. B. takes Q. R. 


23. 


B. takes K. R. 


24. 


B. takes Kt. 


24. 


R. to K. B. 3d. 


25. 


B. to K. B. 4th. 








And Mr. Perrin wins 


in the First Section.t 




* The correct play. 




f Time, three hours. 



200 Games in the Grand Tournament 



SECOND SECTION. 



MoRPHY AND Meek. 
Paulsen and Montgomery, 



C OMJBA TANTS, 

Kaphael and Marache. 

LiCHTENHEIN AND PeRRIN. 



GAME XXXVII.— RUY LOPEZ OPENINO. 

First Game between Morphy and Meek. 





Meek. 




Morphy. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


4. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th, 


5. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


5. 


P. to Q. 3d.* 


6. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th.t 


6. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


7. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


7. 


P. to Q. R. 3d. 


8. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


8. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


9. 


K. B. takes Q. B. 


9. 


B. P. takes K. B. 


10. 


Castles. 


10. 


Castles. 


11. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


11. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


12. 


K. to R. sq. 


12. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


13. 


K. Kt. to R. 3d. 


13. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


14. 


B. to Q. R. 3d. 


14. 


Q. Kt. to Q. sq. 


15. 


P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


15. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


16. 


B. to Q. Kt. 2d. 


16. 


Q. P. takes P. 



* The Leitfaden (p. 101) correctly remarks that this move is not so strong 
as 5. Q. to K. 2d, which leads to the following : — 

5. Q. to K. 2d. 



6. Castles. 

7. K. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 



6. Castles. 

1. P. to Q. 4 th. 
and the game is perfectly even. 

f He should have played 6. P. to Q. 4th, and the game would probably 
have been carried on in the following manner: — 



6. P. to Q. 4th. 

7. B. P. takes P. 

8. K. to K. B. sq. 

and White has the better game. 



6. K. P. takes P. 

7. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th (ch.) 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



201 



Meek. 


Morphy. 


17. P. to Q. 4th. 


17. K. P. takes P. 


18. B. P. takes P. 


18. B. to Q. 3d. 


19. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


19. E. P. takes P. 


20. E. P. takes P. 


20. Q. Kt. to K. B. 2d. 


21. Q. to K. 2d. 


21. Q. to Q. 2d. 


22. Q. Kt. takes K P. 


22. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


23. Q. takes K. Kt. 


23. Q. takes Kt. P. 


24. Q. E. to Q. Kt. sq 


24. Q. to Q. 4th. 


25. Q. to K. Kt. 4th. 


25. Q. E. to E. 5th. 


26. Kt. to K. B. 4th. 


26. Q. to K. 5th. 


27. B. to B. sq. 


27. B. takes Kt.* 


28. B. takes B. 


28. Q. E. takes Q. P. 


29. Q. to K. E. 3d. 


29. Q. takes B. 


And Bla( 


)k wins.t 



G-AME XXXVIII.— FEENCH OPENINa. 

Second Game between Morphy and Meek. 





Morphy. 




Meek. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 3d. 


2. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


2. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d.t 


3. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


3. 


K. B. to Kt. 2d. 


4. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


4. 


K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


5. 


K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


5. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


6. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


6. 


Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


7. 


Castles. 


7. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


8. 


P. to K. 5th. 


8. 


Castles. 


9. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


9. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


10. 


P. to K. E. 3d. 


10. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


11. 


K. to E. 2d. 


11. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


12. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


12. 


. P. to Q. B. 5th. 


13. 


K. B. to Q. B. 2d. 


13. 


P. to Q. E. 3d.§ 


14. 


Q. Kt. to K, B. 3d. 


14. 


P. to K. E. 3d. 



* Black might also have played 27. Q. takes Q. E. with perfect safety. 
f Time, one hour. 

if This transformation of the French Opening into a sort of irregular 
Fianchetto is hardly so commendable as the usual move of 2. P. to Q. 4th. 
§ Uncalled for, and therefore a loss of time. 



202 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Morphy. 

15. P. to K. Kt. 4th.* 

16. K. E. to Kt. sq. 

17. Q. to K. sq. 

18. Q. Kt. to K. K. 4th. 

19. Q. Kt. takes K. Kt. P.J 



Meek. 

15. K. to R. 2d. 

16. K. E. to Kt. sq. 

17. K. Kt. to Q. B. 3d. 

18. Q. to K. B. sq.t 

19. K. takes Kt.§ 



* Perfectly safe, and, in our opinion, the best move on the board. It is 
too much the fashion to denounce this move as risky. 

f White's attack undoubtedly looks threatening, and, with correct after- 
play on both sides, should determine the day in his favor. Black might, 
however, have opposed a much firmer and longer resistance. 18. Q. Kt. to 
B. sq. was probably the best move at his command. 

:[: From this point White's game is, to all intents and purposes, won. The 
forces, after White's nineteenth move, present this appearance : — 

BLACK. 




§If 



20. Kt. P. takes P. 

21. Q. Kt. to K. R. 4th. 



19. Q. toK. B. 2d. 

20. K. P. takes P. 

21. K. Kt. to K. 2d. 



1 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



203 



Morphy. 

20. K. Kt. P. takes P. (ch.) 

21. B. P. takes P. (ch.) 

22. P. to K. B. 5th (ch.) 

23. Q. toK. B.4th(ch.) 

24. P. to K. B. 6th. 

25. K. P. takes B. 

26. Q. K. takes K. R 

27. K. B. to Kt. 6th (ch.) 

28. K. B. to B. 5th (ch.) 

29. Q. B. takes E. P. 

30. E. to Kt. 7th. 

And White mates in 



20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 



Meek. 

K. to B. 2d. 
K. takes P. 
K. to K. 2d. 
K. to K. sq. 



24. K. B. takes P. 

25. K. E. takes K. E. 

26. Q. Kt. takes B. P. 

27. K. to Q. 2d. 

28. K. to K. sq. 

29. Q. to E. sq. 

30. Q. Kt. to K. Kt. sq. 
three moves.* 



GAME XXXIX.— SCOTCH aAMBIT. 
Third Game between Morphy and Meek. 



Meek. 




Morphy. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


K. P. takes P. 


4. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


4. 


Q. P. takes P. 


5. Q. Kt. takes P. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th.t 


6. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


6. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


7. P. to K. E. 3d.t 


7. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


8. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


8. 


K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


9. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


9. 


Castles. 


10. Q. to K. E. 5th. 


10. 


P. to K. E. 3d. 


11. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


11. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 


12. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


12. 


Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 


13. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


13. 


P. takes K. Kt. 



22. Q. Kt. takes B. P. 22. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 

23. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 
and White will win easily. 

* Time, one hour and three quarters. 
f A much better move is 5. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

X White neglected to profit by his adversary's hasty play ; he should have 
moved 7. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 



204 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Meek. 

14. P. to K. Kt. 5th. 

15. Q. B. to K. Sd. 

16. Q. B. takes K. B.* 

17. Castles. 

18. Q. B. takes K. R. 

19. Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 

20. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

21. Q. to Q. sq. 

22. K. to Kt. 2d. 

23. K. to R. sq. 

24. Kt. P. takes P. 

25. P. to R. 7th (ch.) 



Morphy. 

14. Q. to Q. 5th. 

15. Q. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

16. Q. takes Q. Kt. P. 

17. Q. takes Kt. 

18. Q. R. takes Q. B. 

19. Q. to Kt. 7th. 

20. Kt. to K. B. 5th. 

21. Kt. takes K. R. P. 

22. Kt. to B. 5th (ch.) 

23. Q. to Kt. 3d. 

24. B. takes B. 

25. K. takes P. 



(ch.) 



* We give a diagram of the situation, by which the reader can judge 
whether White had any better move at this point : — 




4M i 4M 




Games in the Grand Tournament. 



205 



Meek. 

26. Q. to K. Kt 4th.* 

27. K. to Kt. sq. 

28. R. takes B. 

29. P. to R. 4th. 

30. P. to B. 3d. 

31. K. to B. 2d. 
And Mr. Morphy mates in three moves, and wins in the Second Section. 



Morphy. 

26. Q. to K. E. 3d (ch.) 

27. B. takes K. R. 

28. R. to Q. sq. 

29. R. to Q. 3d. 

30. R. to K. Kt. 3d. 



GAME XL.— SICILIAJSr OPENINa. 

First Game hetween Paulsen and Montgomery. 



Montgomery. 


Paulsen. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to Q. B. 4th. • 


2. p. to Q. 4th. 


2. B. P. takes P. 


3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. P. to K. 3d. 


5. Castles. 


5. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


6. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


6. Q. P. takes P. 


7. Q. Kt. takes P. 


7. K. Kt. to K. 2d.t 


8. P. toK. 5th. 


8. K. Kt. to Kt. 3d.t 


9. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 


9. Q. Kt. takes K. P.§ 


10. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


10. K. Kt. takes K. Kt. 


11. Kt. takes K. B. 


11. Q. to Q. B. 2d.|| 


12. Q. to Q. 4th. 


12. Kt. takes K. B. 


13. Q. takes Kt. 


13. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 



* If White had ventured to capture the Bishop on this or the preceding 
move he would have been check-mated in four moves, thus — 



26. Q. to K. R. 3d (ch.) 
2t. Q. takes Q. (ch.) 
28. Q. to K. R. 6th. 



26. Q. R. takes B. 

27. Q. to K. R. 5th. 
i 28. K. to Kt. sq. 

mating with the Queen next move. 

f We should certainly have preferred 7. P. to Q. 3d. 

X 8. P. to Q. 4th would have been better chess, freeing his game at once. 

§ Black ought to have played, at this stage, 9. K. B. to K. 2d. 

II If Black now play 

11. Kt. takes K. B. 



12. Q. to Q. 4th. 

13. Q. takes K. Kt. 

14. .B. toK. R. 6th. 
and White must win. 



P. 



12. 
13. 



P. to Q. 4tli. 
K. R. to B. sq. 



2o6 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Montgomery. 

14. Kt. to K. 4th.* 

15. Kt. to Q. 6th (ch.) 

16. Kt. takes Q. 

17. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

18. B. to Q. R. 3d (ch.) 

19. Kt. to Q. 6th.t 

* B}^ simply playing 14. Q. to K. 4th White would have preserved his ad- 
vantage in position. If Black then moved 14. P. to Q. 4th White would 
have answered with 15. Q. to Q. R. 4th (ch.) 

f The position is an instructive one. 



Paulsen. 

14. Q. takes Q. 

15. K. to K. 2d. 

16. B. to Q. R. 3d. 

17. P. to Q. 4th. 

18. K. to B. 3d. 

19. B. takes K. R. 




WHITE. 

White should now have availed himself of the opportunity presented for 
drawing the game, thus— 

19. B. to Kt. 2d (ch.) I 19. K. to K. 2d (best). 

20. B. to R. 3d (ch.) | 20. K. to B. 3d (best). 

and the game is drawn by perpetual check. If the Black King moves to any 
other squares than those indicated, White frees liis Knight and Rook. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



207 





Montgomery. 




Paulsen. 


20. 


R. takes B. 


20. 


K. R. to Q. sq. 


21. 


R. to Q. B. sq. 


21. 


K. R. to Q. 2d. 


22. 


R. to Q. B. 3d. 


22. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


23. 


R. to K. B. 3d (ch.) 


23. 


K. to K. Kt. 3d. 


24. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


24. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


25. 


Kt. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


25. 


P. to Q. 5th. 


26. 


B. to Q. Kt. 2d. 


26. 


P. to K. 4th. 


27. 


Kt. to Q. R. 3d. 


27. 


K. R. to Q. 4th. 


28. 


R. to Q. 3d. 


28. 


P. to K. 5th. 


29. 


R. to Q. sq. 


29. 


P. to K. 6th. 


30. 


K. to B. sq. 


30. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


31. 


Kt. to Q. B. 2d. 


31. 


P. to K. 7th (ch.) 


32. 


K. takes P. 


32. 


P, to Q. 6th (ch.) 


33. 


K. to B. 3d. 


33. 


B. P. takes P. (ch.)* 


34. 


K. to K. 4th. 


34. 


K. R. to K. B. 4th. 


35. 


Kt. to K. 3d. 


35. 


K. R. takes B. P. 


36. 


B. to K. 5th. 


36. 


K. R. takes Q. R. P. 


37. 


R. to K. B. sq. 


37. 


K. R. to K. 7th. 


38. 


R. to K. B. 6th (ch.) 


38. 


K. to K. R. 4th. 


39. 


R. to K. 6th. 


39. 


P. to Q. 7th. 


40. 


B. to K. Kt. 7th. 


40. 


Q. R. to K. sq.t 


41. 


R. takes Q. R.J 


41. 


P. to Q. 8th (Q.) 


42. 


B. to Q. 4th.§ 


42. 


Q. to K. R. 8th (ch.) 


43. 


K. to K. 5th. 


43. 


Q. to K. B. 6th. 


44. 


K. to Q. 6th. 


44. 


Q. to K. B. 5th (ch.) 


45. 


K. to Q. 5th. 


45. 


Q. to K. B. 2d. (ch.) 


46. 


R. to K. 6th. 


46. 


R. to Q. 7th. 


47. 


K. to K. 5th. 


47. 


R. takes B. 




And Whit 


e resigns.il 



* He ought rather to have captured the Knight at once. 

f Elegantly played ; from this point to the end the second player conducts 
the attack with great vigor and accuracy. 

X White has no better move. 

§ If 42. R. to K. 6th, Black would play 42. Q. to Q. B. Ith (ch.), and either 
win both Rook and Knight or mate in a few moves. 

II Time, six hours. 



2o8 Games in the Grand Tournament. 

GAME XLI.— CENTKE COUNTER GAMBIT. 
Second Game between Paulsen and Montgomery. 



Paulsen. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. P. takes P. 

3. P. to Q. 4th.* 

4. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

5. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

6. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

7. K. B. toQ. 3d. 

8. P. to Q. R. 3d. 

9. Castles. 

10. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

11. Q. B. to Q. Kt. 2d. 

12. Q. R. to Q. B. sq 

13. P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

14. K. R. to K. sq. 

15. Kt. P. takes P. 

16. P. to Q. 5th. 

17. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 

18. K. B. takes K. Kt. 

19. Kt. to K. 5th. 

20. Q. to K. R. 5th. 

21. Q. to K. R. 6th. 

22. K. B. to Q. Kt. sq. 

23. Q. R. to Q. sq. 

24. Kt. to Kt. 4th. 

25. Q. takes B. 

26. Kt. takes B. P. (eh.) 

27. B. takes K. P. 



Montgomery. 

1. P. to Q. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. Q. takes P. 

4. P. to K. 3d. 

5. Q. to Q. sq. 

6. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

7. Q. Kt. to R. 3d. 

8. K. B. to K. 2d. 

9. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 

10. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

11. Q. Kt. to Kt. sq.t 

12. P. to Q. R. 4tk 

13. Castles. 

14. Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 

15. Q. B. takes P. 

16. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 

17. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 

18. Q. R. to R. 2d. 

19. K. B. to B. 3d. 

20. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

21. Q. B. to B. sq. 

22. Q. to Q. sq. 

23. K. B. to Kt. 4th. 

24. P. to K. B. 3d.t 

25. P. to K. 4th. 

26. K. R. takes Kt. 

27. Q. Kt. to Q 2d. 



* This can hardly be considered an improvement upon the usual move of 
3. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th (ch.) followed, after Black has played 3. Q. B. to Q. j, 
2d, by 4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. ^ i! 

•f Black has certainly lost valuable time by some of his later moves. 

X No reader need be told that if Black take the Queen he is mated at once. 
But would not 24. P. to K. B. 4th have relieved his orame somewhat? 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



209 



Paulsen. Montgomery. 

28. Q. B. takes K. E. 28. Kt. takes Q. B. 

29. P. to K. E. 4th. 29. Q. to K. B. sq. 

30. P. to Q. 6th. 30. P. to K. E. Sd, 

31. Q. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

And Mr. Paulsen wins in the Second Section.* 



GAME XLII.— SICILIAN OPENINa. 

First Game between Eaphael and Marache. 



Eapliael. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. K. Kt. takes Q. P. 

5. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th.t 

7. Q. B. takes K. Kt. 

8. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

9. Castles. 

10. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

11. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

12. P. to K. E. 3d. 

13. B. takes Q. B. 

14. Q. Kt. to K. 2d. 

15. Q. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 

16. Q. to K. 2d. 

17. Q. Kt. to K. E. 5th. 



Marache. 

1. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

2. B. P. takes P 
3.. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. P. to K. 4th. 

5. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. K. B. to K. 2d. 

7. K. B. takes Q. B. 

8. Castles. 

9. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

10. Kt. to K. 2d. 

11. P. to Q. 3d. 

12. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

13. B. P. takes B. 

14. P. to Q. 4th. 

15. Q. E. to Q. sq. 

16. P. to Q. 5th. 

17. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 



* Time, six hours and a half. The second player being obliged to return 
to Philadelphia, was compelled to resign the match upon the conclusion of this 
game. We learn from hifn that this game should properly be considered a 
drawn contest, such being the agreement between the two combatants when 
hostilities were suspended on the evening of October 1 4tli, just after the 
twenty-first move. But not leaving the city the next morning at the hour 
he anticipated, he consented to play the gajne out in a hasty and experi- 
mental manner. 

f This is not so strong as the usual method on the part of White of 6. K. 
B. to Q. B. 4th, and 1, Castles. 



210 Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Eaphael. 


Marache. 


18. 


Q. R. Lo Q sq. 


18. B. to K. 2d. 


19. 


Q. R. to Q. 3d. 


19. Q. to B. 2d. 


20. 


K. R, to Q. B. sq. 


20. B. to Q. R. 6th. 


21. 


K. R. to Q. sq. 


21. B. to Kt. 5th. 


22. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


22. Q. to K. 2d. 


23. 


Q. to K. Kt. 4th. 


23. Q. R. to Q. 3d. 


24. 


Q. R. to K. Kt. 3d. 


24. K. R. to B. 5th.* 


25. 


Q. Kt. takes K. R. 


25. K. P. takes Q. K 


26. 


Q. R. to Q. 3d. 


26. Kt. to K. 4th. 


27. 


Q. takes B. P. 


27. Kt. takes Q. R. 


28. 


B. P. takes Kt. 


28. P. to K. R. 3d. 


29. 


Kt. to B. 3d. 


29. Q. to B. 3d.t 


30. 


Q. takes Q. 


30. Kt. P. takes Q. 


31. 


P. to K. 5th. 


31. B. P. takes P. 


32. 


Kt. takes K. P. 


32. K. to Kt. 2d. 


33. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


33. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


34. 


R. to Q. B. sq. 


34. B. to B. 6th. 


35. 


R. to Q. B. 2d. 


35. P. to K. R. 4th. 


36. 


K. to B. 2d. 


36. R. to Q. sq. 


37. 


K. to B. 3d. 


37. K. to B. 3d. 


38. 


K. toK. 4th. 


38. P. to Q. R. 4th. 


39. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


39. R. P. takes P. 


40. 


R. P. takes P. 


40. R. to K. R. sq. 


41. 


P. to Kt. 5th (ch.) 


41. K. to Kt. 2d. 


42. 


Kt. to Q. B. 6th. 


42. R. to K. R. 5th. 


43. 


R. to K. B. 2d.t 


43. P. to Q. R. 5th. 


44. 


Kt. takes Q. P. 


44. B. to K. 8th. 


45. 


Kt. takes K. P. (ch.) 


45. K. to B. 2d. 


46. 


R. to B. sq. 






AndWh 


ite wins.§ 



* This only gives up the exchange for the moment, but the move, nevei| 
theless, was not correct, Black losing a Pawn by the combination. 

f Unwise, considering that Black's position is certainly no better tha 
"White's, while his forces are a Pawn less. Nor can he derive any advantag 
from uniting his Pawns in the centre, since his opponent's thirty-first movl 
forces him to exchange one of them. 

X In order to be able to capture the Queen's Pawn with Knight. 

§ Time, tVirce hours and a half. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 211 

GAME XLIII.— QUEEN'S BISHOP'S PAWN'S OPENINa. 
Second Game between Kaphael and Makache. 



Maracbe. 




Eaphael. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


2. 


P. to Q. B. 4th.* 


3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


5. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


6. K. P. takes P. 


6. 


K. Kt. takes Q. P. 


7. Q. to K. B. 3d. 


7. 


Q. takes K. Kt. 


8. K. B. takes K. Kt. 


8. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


9. K. B. takes Kt, (ch.)t 


9. 


Q. takes K. B. 


10. Q. takes Q. (ch.) 


10. 


Kt. P. takes Q. 


11. P. to Q. 3d. 


11. 


Q. B. to E. 3d. 


12. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


12. 


Castles. 


13. K. to K. 2d.t 


13. 


P. to K. 5th. 


14. Q. P. takes P. 


14. 


Q. B. takes B. P. (ch. 


15. K. to B. 3d. 


15. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


16. Kt. to B. 3d. 


16. 


K. E. to K. B. sq. 


17. K. K. to K. sq. 


17. 


Q. E. to K. sq. 


18. B. to K. B. 4th. 


18. 


K. B. takes B. 


19. K. takes K. B. 


19. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


20. Kt. to E. 4th. 


20. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th (ch.) 


21. K. to B. 3d. 


21. 


Q. E. to K. 4th. 


22. Q. E. to Q. B. sq. 


22. 


B. takes E. P. 


23. Q. E. takes B. P. 


23. 


Q. E. takes Q. E. 


24. Kt. takes Q. E. 


24. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


25. P. to K. 5th. 


25. 


B. to Q. 4th (ch.) 


26. K. to Kt. 3d. 


26. 


P. to K. E. 4th. 


27. P. to B. 3d. 


27. 


P. to K. B. 5th (ch.) 



* Weak, since it effectually cramps the movements of his King's Bishop ; 
the correct move is 2. P. to Q. 4th. 

f Since he intended to exchange Queens, why not have done it thus ? — 
9. Q. takes Q. I 9. Kt. P. takes Q. 

10. K. B. takes Kt. (ch.) | 10. Kt. P. takes K. B. 

doubling Black's Pawns in an awkward manner on the Bishops' files. 
\ White has no better way of defending the Pawn. 



L 



212 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



^28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 
32. 
33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 
39. 

* The 
game: — 



Marache. 

K. to B. 2d. 
K. to Q. E. sq. 
E. to E. 6th. 
E. to E. 4th. 
E. to Q. 4th. 
P. to K. 6th. 
P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 
Kt. to Q. 7th (ch.) 
E. to K. 4th. 
Kt. to B. 6th. 
Kt. to Kt. 8th. 
Kt. to B. 6th. 



Eapbael. 

28. K. to B. 2d. 

29. E. to Q. E. sq. 

30. B. to B. 5th. 

31. B. to Kt. 4th. 

32. E. to K. sq. 

33. K. to Kt. 3d. 

34. P. to Q. E. 4th. 

35. K. to B. 2d. 

36. E. P. takes P. 

37. E. to K. 2d. 

38. E. to K. sq. 

39. E. to K. 2d.* 



And the game was drawn .t 
subjoined diagram represents the situation at the termination of the 




Time, two hours. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



213 



GAME XLIY.— PETEOFF DEFENCE. 
Third Game between Eaphael and Marache. 



Marache. 




Eaphael. 


1. P. to K. 4tli. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. K. Kt to B. 3d. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d.* 


3. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. 


K. B. takes Q. Kt. 


5. Q. P. takes K. B. 


5. 


Castles. 


6. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


6. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


7. Q. to Q. 3d. 


7. 


P. to K. E. 3d. 


8. Q. B. to E. 4th. 


8. 


Q. B, to K. 3d. 


9. Castles (Q. E.) 


9. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


10. K. B. takes B. 


10. 


B. P. takes B. 


11. Q. to Q. B. 4th. 


11. 


Q. to K. sq. 


12. Q. takes Q. B. P. 


12. 


K. Kt. takes K. P. 


13. Q. takes Q. Kt. P.t 


13. 


Q. Kt. to Q. B. 4th. 


14. Q. to Kt. 4th. 


14. 


Q. E. to Kt. sq. 


15. Q. to Q. B. 4th. 


15. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


16. Q. to K. 2d. 


16. 


Q. Kt. to E. 5th. 


17. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


17. 


K. Kt. takes Kt. 


18. K. takes Kt. 


18. 


Q. E. takes Kt. P. 


19. Q. E. to Q. Kt. sq. 


19. 


K. E. to B. 5th. 


20. B. to Kt. 3d. 


20. 


K. E. to K. 5th. 


21. Q. to K. B. 3d. 


21. 


Q. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


22. Q. E. to K. sq 


22. 


Q. E. takes B. P. (ch.)t 


23. K. takes E. 


23. 


Q. to Kt. 7th (ch.) 


24. K. to-Q. sq.§ 


24. 


Kt. takes Q. B. P. (ch.) 


And Whit 


e resigns.! 



* This seems less strong than the customary way of carrying on the attack 
by 3. K. Kt. takes K. P, 

f White is made to pay dearly in the end for the acquisition of these 
Pawns. 

X The right style. 

§ If 24. K. to K. 3d Black mates on the move. 

I Time, two hours. 



214 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



aAME XLY.— FEElSrCH OPENINa. 
Fourth Game between Eaphael and MARACfHE. 





Eaphael. 




Marache. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 3d. 


2. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


2. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


K. p. takes P. 


3. 


K. P. takes P. 


4. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


6. 


Castles. 


6. 


Castles. 


7. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


7. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


8. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


8. 


Q. B. to K. 3d.* 


9. 


P. to Q. B. 3d.t 


9. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


10. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


10. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


11. 


K. Kt. to R. 2d. 


11. 


Q. B. takes R. P.J 


12. 


Kt. P. takes Q. B. 


12. 


Q. takes R. P. 


13. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


13. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


14. 


K, to R. sq. 


14. 


P. to Kt. 5th. 


15. 


K. R. to Kt. sq. 


15. 


K. to R. sq. 


16. 


Q. Kt. to K. 5th. 


16. 


Q. Kt. takes Q. Kt, 


17. 


K. R. to Kt. 3d. 


17. 


Q. to R. 5th. 


18. 


P. takes Q. Kt. 


18. 


B. takes P. 


19. 


K. R. to Kt. 2d. 


19. 


Q. R. to K. sq. 


20. 


K. R. takes Kt. P.§ 








And Black mates.]] 



aAME XLYI.— SICILIAN OPENINa. 

Fifth Game between Raphael and Marache. 



Marache. 

P. to K. 4th. 
P. to Q. 4th. 



Eaphael. 

1. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

2. B. p. takes P. 



* It will be observed that the positions are exactly alike ; White has only 
the advantage of the move. 

f 9. K. Kt. to K. 5th looks more to the purpose. 

if This sacrifice certainly gives Black a great attack for the moment, but 
we very much doubt its soundness. 

§ Certainly an astounding oversight; he ought to have played 20. Q. to Q. 
2d, and Black's attack would soon be completely thwarted. 

II Time, three quarters of an hour. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 215 





Marache. 




Raphael. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


K. Kt. takes Q. P. 


4. 


p. to K. 3d. 


5. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


5. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


6. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


6. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


7. 


K. P. takes P. 


7. 


K. Kt. takes Q. P. 


8. 


K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


8. 


Kt. P. takes Kt. 


9. 


Kt. to Q. 2d. 


9. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th 


10. 


Castles. 


10. 


Castles. 


11. 


P. to Q. K. 3d. 


11. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


12. 


Q. to K. E. 5th. 


12. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


13. 


Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


13. 


Kt. takes Q. B. 


14. 


B. P. takes Kt. 


14. 


K. E. to B. 3d. 


15. 


Q. to E. 4th. 


15. 


Q. to Kt. 3d. 


16. 


Q. to B. 2d. 


16. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


17. 


Kt. to Q. 4th. 


17. 


P. to K. 4th.* 


18. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


18. 


K. B. takes Kt. 


19. 


B. to Q. B. 4th (ch.) 


19. 


K. to B. sq. 


20. 


P. takes K. B. 


20. 


Q. takes Q. P. 


21. 


Q. takes Q. 


21. 


K. P. takes Q. 


22. 


Q. E. to Q. sq. 


22. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


23. 


Kt. P. takes P. 


23. 


B. to Kt. 2d. 


24. 


Q. E. takes Q. P. 


24. 


Q, E. to Q. B. sq. 


25. 


K. E. to Q. sq. 


25. 


B. to K. 5th. 


26. 


B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


26. 


K. E. to Q. B. 3d. 


27. 


Q. E. to Q. 7th. 


27. 


K. E. to Q. B. 2d. 


28. 


K. E. to Q. 2d. 


28. 


P. to Q. E. 4th. 


29. 


K. to B. 2d. 


29. 


K. E. takes Q. E. 


30. 


K. E. takes K. E. 


30. 


E. takes B. P. 


31. 


E. to K. B. 7th (ch.) 


31. 


K. to K. sq. 


32. 


E. takes Kt. P. 


32. 


B. takes B. P. 


33. 


B. takes B. 


33. 


E. takes B. (ch.) 


34. 


K. to K. sq. 


34. 


E. to Q. B. 6th. 


35. 


E. takes E. P. 


35. 


E. takes E. P. ■ 


36. 


E. to Q. E. 7th. 


36. 


E. to Q. E. 7th. 


37. 


K. to B. sq. 


37. 


P. to K. E. 5th. 


38. 


P. to K. E. 4th. 


38. 


K. to B. sq. 


39. 


P. to K. E. 5th. 


39. 


K. to Kt. sq. 



17. P. to K. B. 5th would also have been a good move. 



21.6 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Marache. 


Rapliael. 


40. P. to K. R. 6th. 


40. K. to R. sq.* 


41. R. to K. B. 7th. 


41. p. to K. B. 5th. 


42. R. takes E. P. 


42. K. to K. R. 2d. 


43. R. to K. B. 6th. 


43. P. to K. R. 6th. 


44. R. to Q. R. 6th. 


44. R. to R. 8th (ch.) 


45. K. to B. 2d. 


45. P. to R. 7th. 


46. K. to Kt. 3d.t 


46. K. to R. sq. 


47. K. to Kt. 4th. 


47. R. to K. R. 8th. 


48. R. takes P. 


48. R. takes P. 


49. K. to Kt. 5th. 


49. R. to Q. Kt. 3d. ^ 


50. R. to Q. R. 7th. 


50. K. to Kt. sq. 


51. P. to Kt. 4th. 


51. K. to B. sq. 


52. K. to R. 5th. • 


52 K. to Kt. sq. 


53. P. to Kt. 5th. 


53. R. to Kt. 8th. 


54. K. to R. 6th. 


54. R. to K. R. 8th (ch.) 


55. K. to Kt. 6th. 


55. K. to B. sq. 


56. R. to R. 8th (ch.) 


56. K. to K. 2d. 


57. K. to Kt. 7th. 


57. R. to K. Kt. 8th. 


58. P. to Kt. 6th. 


58. K. to K. 3d. 


59. R. to Q. R. 6th (ch.) 


59. K. to K. 2d. 


60. R to K. B. 6th. 


60. R. to K. Kt. 7th. 


61. R. to K. B. 3d. 


61. R. to K. 7th. 


62. K. to Kt. 8th. 


62. R. to K. Kt. 7th. 


63. K. to Kt. 7th. 


63. R. to K. 7th. 


64. R. to K. B. 7th (ch.) 


64. K. to K. sq. 


65. K. to Kt 8th. 


65. R. to K. Kt. 7th. 


66. P. to Kt. 7th. 


66. R. toK. Kt.eth. 


67. R. to K. B. 2d. 


67. R. to K. 6th. 


68. R. to K. Kt. 2d. 


68. R. to K. 5th.t 


69. K. to R. 7th. 


69. R. to K. R. 5th (ch.) 


70. K. to Kt. 6th. 




AndWh 


ite wins.§ 



A 



* We should have preferred 40. P. to R. 6th. ii; 

f White plays the whole of this difficult end-game with great care and |i 

accuracy. j 

X R. to K. R. 6th would have been better. i| 

§ Time, five and a quarter hours. ij 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



217 



GAME XLVII.— IREEaULAR OPENIJSTa. 
Sixth Game between Raphael and Marache. 



Eaphael. 

1. P. to Q. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d * 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 

5. Q. B. takes K. Kt. 

6. P. to K. 4th. 

7. Q. Kt. takes K. P. 

8. B. to Q. 3d. 

9. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

10. Q. to B. 2d. 

11. Castles (Q. R.) 

12. P. to K. R. 4th.t 

13. P. to Q. 5th. 

14. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th.t 

15. B. to B. 4th. 

16. B. takes Kt. 

17. Q. Kt. takes K. B. 

18. Q. Kt. takes Q. P. 

19. R. P. takes P. (ch.) 

20. P. to K. B. 4th. 

21. Kt. to K. 3d. 

22. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

23. Q. R. takes Q. P. 

24. P. to K. Kt. 6th. 



Marache. 

1. P. to K. B. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. P. to K. 3d. 

4. K. B. to K. 2d. 

5. K. B. takes Q. B. 

6. B. P. takes P. 

7. Castles. 

8. Kt. to B. 3d. 

9. P. to Q. 3d. 

10. P. to K. R. 3d. 

11. K. to R. sq. 

12. P. to K. 4th. 

13. Kt. to K. 2d. 

14. Kt. takes Q. P.§ 

15. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

16. B. P. takes B. 

17. P. to K. 5th. 

18. R. P. takes K. Kt. 

19. K. to Kt. sq. 

20. B. to K. B. 4th. 

21. B. to Kt. 3d. 

22. Q. to Q. R. 4th. 

23. B. to K. B. 2d. 

24. B. takes Kt. P. 11 



* 2. P. to K. 4th, introduced by Mr. Staunton, is a good move. 

f The whole of this game is conducted with much spirit and judgment by 
the first player. 

if An excellent move ; White purposely leaves his Queen's Pawn unpre- 
tected, foreseeing that to take it will entail serious loss upon Black. 

§ This is, in fact, playing his adversary's game. 

II Black must submit to the loss of the Bishop ; any attempt to save it would 
shorten the contest, thus — 

24. B. anywhere. 



25. 


K. R. to R. 8th (ch.) 


25. K. takes K. R. 


26. 


Q. to R. 2d (ch.) 


26. K. to Kt. sq. 


21, 


Q. matgs. 





10 



21 8 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Eaphael. 

25. Q. R. takes B. 

26. Q. takes K. P. 

27. K. to B. 2d. 



Marache. 

25. Q. takes Q. R. P. 

26. Q. to E. 8th (ch.) 

27. Q. to E. 4th.* 



And Dr. Eaphael mates in three moves, and wins in the Second Section.t 



GAME XLVIII.— EUY LOPEZ OPENING. 
First Game between Lichtenhein and Perrin. 



Lichtenhein. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 



Perrin. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 



* The mate that follows, as the reader may observe, is a pretty one. 

BLACK. 




mi 



^^A 




, "^^m ^/^J. ^^ 




111 







m mm. 






m!i,Jzzf...WM^' 








mm^, mm 








\ Time, two hours. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 219 



\ 





Lichtenhein. 




Perrin. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


5. 


Castles.* 


5. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


6. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


6. 


K. P. takes P. 


7. 


K. Kt. takes Q. P. 


7. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


8. 


K. B. takes Q. Kt. 


8. 


Q. B. takes K. B. 


9. 


K. Kt. takes Q. B. 


9. 


Kt. P. takes K. Kt. 


10. 


B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


10. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


11. 


B. to K. K. 4^. 


11. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


12. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


12. 


Q. to K. 4th. 


13. 


B. to Kt. 3d. 


13. 


Q. to K. R. 4th. 


14. 


Q. to Q. 3d. 


14. 


Castles (K. R.) 


15. 


K. to K. sq. 


15. 


Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


16. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


16. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


17. 


P. to K. 5th. 


17. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


18. 


Q. E. to K. sq. 


18. 


K. R. to K. sq.t 


19. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


19. 


B. to Kt. 3d. 


20. 


Q. to Q. B. 4th (ch.) 


20. 


K. to R. sq. 


21, 


Q. takes B. P. 


21. 


Q. P. takes P. 


22. 


B. P. takes P. 


22. 


Q. R. to Q. 7th. 


23. 


Kt. to Q. 5th.t 


23. 


B. toK. B. 7th. 


24. 


Kt. to K. B. 4th. 


24. 


Q. to K. B. 2d. 


25. 


P. to K. 6th. 


25. 


Q. to K. Kt. sq.§ 


26. 


B. takes B. 


26. 


Kt. takes B. (ch.) 


27. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


27. 


Kt. to K. 5th. 


28. 


Kt. to Kt. 6th (ch.) 


28. 


K. to R. 2d. 


29. 


P. to K. 7th. 


29. 


Q. R. to Q. 3d. 


30. 


Kt. to B. 8th (ch.) 


30. 


K. R. takes Kt. 


31. 


P. takes K. R. (Q.) 


31. 


R. takes Q.|i 


32. 


Q. takes P. (ch.) 








And Blacl^ 


: resis^ns 


5.T 



* He might, with as much effect, have played 5. K. B. takes Q. Kt. 

f It is evident that he cannot move 18. Q. P. takes K. P. on account of 
White's reply 19. Q. to Q. B. 4th (ch.) 

J From this point to the end the game is very lively ; the termination is 
well conducted by the winning player. 

§ The only place of retreat to protect the Rook. 

II If 31. Q. takes Q. then White would play 32. Q. takes Kt. 

^ Time, two an(> a half hours. 



220 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



GAME XLIX.--SICILIAN OPENINa. 
Second Game between Lichtenhein and Perrin. 



Perrin. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. K. Kt. takes P. 

5. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

6. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

7. Castles. 

8. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

9. Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

10. P. takes Q. Kt. 

11. K. P. takes P. 

12. P. to K. B. 4th. 

13. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 

14. Kt. to K. 5th. 

15. B. P. takes Kt. 

16. Q. to Q. 2d. 

17. Q. takes K. B. 

18. Q. E. to Q. B. sq. 

19. Q. K. to B. 3d. 

20. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

21. B. to Q. B. 2d. 

22. Kt. P. takes P. 

23. Q. to K. B. 3d. 

24. Q. to K. B. 2d.* 

25. K. to R. sq. 

26. Q. B. takes K. B. P.t 

27. Q. to K. Kt. 2d (ch.) 

28. R. to K. Kt. sq. 

29. P. to Q. R. 3d. 

And 



Lichtenhein. 

1. p! to Q. B. 4th. 

2. B. P. takes P. 

3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. P. to K. 3d. 

5. K. Kt. to K. 2d. 

6. K. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 

7. K. B. to K. 2d. 

8. Castles. 

9. Q. Kt. takes K. Kt. 

10. P. to K. B. 4th. 

11. K. P. takes P. 

12. P. to Q. 4th. 

13. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

14. Kt. takes Kt. 

15. K. B. to K. Kt. 4th. 

16. K. B. takes Q. B. (ch.) 

17. K. R. to B. 2d. 

18. Q. to K. 2d. 

19. Q. R. to K. B. sq. 

20. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

21. P. to K. B. 5th. 

22. Kt. P. takes P. 

23. Q. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

24. P. to K. B. 6th. 

25. K. R. to B. 5th. 

26. K. R. takes Q. R. 

27. K. to R. sq. 

28. Q. to K. 2d. 

29. K. R. to B. 7th. 
Black wins.t 



* The only method of protecting both the attacked Pawns. 

f Wholly unsound ; "White omitted to observe that after 27. Q. to K. Kt. 2d 
(ch.), he could not play 28. R. takes K. R. on account of Black's move of 
28. Q. to K. 8th (ch.). if Time, two hours. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



221 



GAME L.— -FIANCHETTO OPENINa. 
Third Game between Lichtenhein and Perrin. 





Lichtenhein. 




Perrin. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


2. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


2. 


Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


3. 


P. to K. 3d. 


4. 


K. Kt. to K.'2d. 


4. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


5. 


Castles. 


5. 


K. B. to Kt. 2d. 


6. 


P. to Q, B. 3d. 


6. 


K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


7. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


7. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


8. 


P. to K. 5th. 


8. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


9. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


9. 


Q. P. takes P. 


10. 


B. P. takes P. 


10. 


K. B. takes K. P.* 


11. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


11. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


12. 


K. B. takes K. P. 


12. 


Q. B. to Q. 4th.t 


13. 


K. B. takes Q. B. 


13. 


K. Kt. takes K. B. 


14. 


Q. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


14. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


15. 


B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


15. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


16. 


Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


16. 


P. to K. K. 3d. 


17. 


B. to K. K. 4th. 


17. 


Q. Kt. to R. 4th. 


18. 


Q. to Q. B. 2d. 


18. 


K. Kt. to K. 6th. 


19. 


Q. to Q. 3d. 


19. 


K. Kt. takes K. R. 


20. 


E. takes K. Kt. 


20. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


21. 


B. to K. Kt. 3d. 


21. 


P. to K. B. 5th.t 


22. 


Q. to K. 4th (ch.) 


22. 


K. to B. 2d. 



* Unwise, since "White immediately regains the Pawn with an improved 
position. 

12. B. takes R. P. (ch.) 



13. Q. to Q. 3d (ch.) 

14. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

15. K. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 



13. K. takes B. 

14. K. Kt. to B. 4th. 

15. Q. to K. R. 5th (ch.) 

16. K. B. takes B. P. 
and White ought to win. 

X Fatal; 21. K. R. to B. sq., followed by Castling (Q. R.), seems to be his 
most plausible line of play. 



k 



222 Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Llchtenhein. 




Perrin. 


23. 


B. takes B. P.* 


23. 


K. to Kt. 2d.t 


24. 


B. to K. 5th (ch.) 


24. 


B. takes B.J 


25. 


Q. Kt. takes B. 


25. 


Q. to K. 3d. 


26. 


R. to B. 7th (ch.) 


26. 


Q. takes R.§ 


27. 


Kt. takes Q. 


27. 


K. takes Kt. 


28. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


28. 


Q. R. to K. sq. 


29. 


Q. to B. 3d (ch.) 


29. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


30. 


Kt. P. takes Kt. 







And Mr. Lichtenhein wins in the Second Section. 
* The following is the position of the men after "White's twenty-third move :. 

BLACK. 



\ "y^/^T^/A 




WHITE. 

t If 23. Kt. P. takes B., White moves 24. K. Kt. takes B. P., and must win ; if 
23. B. takes B., White would play 24. Q. Kt. to K. 5th (ch.), gaining the Queen. 

\ Forced, for if 24. K. to Kt. sq., then his adversary would check with the 
Queen at Knight's sixth, and if 24. K. to B. 2d or B. sq., White would reply 
with 25. Kt. takes Kt. P. (ch.), etc. 

§ Otherwise mate ensues in two moves. 

II It is evident that he cannot save the Knight. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



223 



THIRD SECTIOlSr. 
G OMBA TANTS. 

MORPHY AND LiCHTENHEIN. | PaULSEN AND RAPHAEL. 

GAME LI.— SCOTCH GAMBIT. 
First Game between Morphy and Lichtenhein. 





Lichtenhein. 


Morphy. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


3. K. P. takes P. 


4. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. K. Kt. to B. 3d.* 


5. 


P. to K. 5th. 


5. P. to Q. 4th. 


6. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


6. K. Kt. to K. 5th. 


7. 


K. Kt. takes Q. P. 


7. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


8. 


K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


8. Kt. P. takes Kt. 


9. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


9. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


10. 


K. B. takes Kt. 


10. Q. to K. R. 5th. 


11. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


11. Q. P. takes B. 


12. 


B. to K. 3d.t 


12. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th 


13. 


Q. to Q. B. 4th.t 


13. K. B. takes B. 


14. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d.§ 


14. Q. to Q. sq. 


15. 


B. P. takes B. 


15. Q. to Q. 8th (ch.) 


16. 


K. to B. 2d. 


16. Q. to B. 6th (ch.) 


17. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


17. B. to K. R. 6th. 


18. 


Q. takes B. P. (ch.) 


18. K. to B. sq.l 




And Bla( 


3k wins.1" 



* Not a very common defence, but a perfectly safe one. 
jf He should have Castled at once. 

X If 13. Q. to Q. 2d, Black would of course play 13. Q. R. to Q. sq. 
§ If 14. Q. takes B. P. (ch.) I 14. K. to B. sq. 

15. Q. takes Q. R. (ch.) | 15. K. to K. 2d. 

and Black must win. 

II White cannot delay the mate longer than three moves. 
^ Time, forty-five minutes. 



224 Games in the Grand Tournament. 

GAME LII.— PETEOFF DEFENCE. 

Second Game between Morphy and Lichtenhein. 



Morphy. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. Q. Kt. toB. 3d. 
6. K. B. takes Q. P. 

6. K. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

7. P. to Q. 3d. 

8. P. to K. E. 3d. 

9. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

10. Q. to Q. 2d. 

11. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

12. E. P. takes Q. Kt. 

13. K. E. to Kt. sq. 

14. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 

15. P. to K. Kt. 5th. 

16. K. Kt. to E. 4th. 

17. Q. to K. 2d. 

18. P. to K. B. 4th.§ 

19. B. to Q. 4th (ch.) 

20. K. Kt. to B. 5th. 

21. K. Kt. to E. 6th (ch.) 

22. Castles. 

23. Q. P. takes B. 

24. P. to K. 5th. 

25. B. tal^es B. 



Lichtenhein. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. Kt. takes P. 

4. P. to Q. 4th.* 

5. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

7. Castles. 

8. P. to K. E. 3d. 

9. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

10. Q. Kt. to E. 4th.t 

11. Q. Kt. takes K. B. 

12. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 

13. Kt. to K. E. 2d. 

14. K. to E. sq. 

15. P. to K. E. 4th. 

16. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

17. Q. B. to B. 3d.t 

18. K. P. takes P. 

19. K. to Kt. sq. 

20. K. E. to K. sq. 

21. K. to B. sq. 

22. Q. B. takes Q. Kt. 

23. Q. to K. 2d. 

24. B. takes P. 

25. Q. takes B. 



* This is unusual, but it appears to be good. 

f Well-played. 

X This was incorrect ; he should not have abandoned the command of his 
Queen's Bishop's diagonal. 

§ White at once takes advantage of Black's error. 

I The only move ; if 20. Kt. P. takes Kt., White wins immediately by 
21. Kt. to K. B. 6th check, followed by the capture of the Rook's Pawn with 
the Queen. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



225 



Morphy. 


Lichtenhein. 


26. Q. K. to Q. 7th.* 


26. Q. to K. Kt. 2d.1 


27. Q. to Q. B. 4:th. 


27. K. E. to K. 2d. 



* The winning move. 

f The position is eminently worthy of examination : 



III i ill 




WHITE. 

We see no better move for Black than the one he made. If the Queen be 
taken White mates. If 26. Kt. takes Kt. P., then 27. K. R. takes Kt. If he 
play 26. Q. to K. B. 4th, then 27. Q. to Q. 3d. Finally, if 

26. K. to Kt 2d. 



21, Q. R takes K. B. P. (eh.) 
28. Q. E to B. 8th (eh.) 



27. K. to E. sq. 

28. K. to Kt. 2d. 



Should he play 28. K. E. takes Q. E., then White 29. Q. takes Q. (eh.) and 
wins; if 28. Kt. takes Q. E., White would answer with 29. Kt. to B. Tth 
(eh.), winning the Queen. 

29. Q. E. to Kt. 8th (ch.) I 29. K. E. takes Q. E. 

30. Q. takes Q. (ch.) | 
and wins at once. 

10* 



226 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Morphy. 

28. Q. R. takes K. R. 

29. R. to K. sq. (ch.) 



Lichtenhein. 

28. K. takes Q. R. 



And White wins.* 



GAME LIII.--QUEEN'S GAMBIT REFUSED 
Third Oame between Morphy and Lichtenhein. 





Lichtenhein. 




Morphy. 


1. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


1. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


2. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. 


P. to K. 3d. 


3. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


K. Kt. to B.. 3d. 


4. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


5. 


P. to K. 3d. 


5. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


6. 


P. to Q. R. 3d. 


6. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


7. 


Q. P. takes P. 


7. 


?:. B. takes P. 


8. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


8. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


9. 


Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


9. 


Castles. 


10. 


Q. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


10. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


11. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 4th. 


11. 


K. Kt. to K. 5th. 


12. 


Q. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


12. 


Kt. P. takes Q. Kt. 


13. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


13. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


14. 


Kt. to Q. 2d. 


14. 


Kt. takes Kt. 


15. 


Q. takes Kt. 


15. 


Q. P. takes P. 


16. 


K. B. to K. 4th. 


16. 


Q. takes Q. 


17. 


K. takes Q. 


17. 


Q. R. to Kt. sq. 


18. 


Q. B. to K. 5th.1 


18. 


Q. R. to Kt. 4th. 


19. 


K. B. to Q. B. 6th. 


19. 


Q. R. to Kt. 3d. 


20. 


P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


20. 


Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


21. 


Q. B. to B. 7th. 


21. 


P. to B. 6th (ch.) 


22. 


K. takes P. 


22. 


Q. B. takes K. B. 


23. 


Q. B. takes R. 


23. 


K. B. to B. 3d (oh.) 


24. 


K. toQ. 2d. 


24. 


R. P. takes B. 


25. 


Kt. P. takes Q. B. 


25. 


B. takes Q. R. 



* Time, three hours. 

f He would have done better in the end if he had now taken measures to 
bring his Rooks into play. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



227 



Lichitenheiii. 

26. E. takes B. 

27. P. to Q. R. 4th. 

28. P. to Q. E. 5th. 

29. E. takes P. 

30. P. to K. B. 3d. 

31. E. takes B. P. 

And the game was eventually drawn.t 



Morphy. 

26. E. to Q. B. sq. 

27. E. takes B. P. 

28. Kt. P. takes P. 

29. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

30. E. to Q. Kt. 3d.* 



GAME LIV.— lEEEaULAE OPENINa. 
Fourth Game between Morphy and Lichtenhein. 



Lichtenheln. 




Morphy. 


1.. P. to Q. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


3. 


P. to K. 3d. 


4. P. to K. 4th. 


4. 


B. P. takes P. 


5. Q. Kt. takes P. 


5. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


6. Q. B. takes K. Kt. 


6. 


K. B. takes Q. B. 


7. Q. to K. E. 5th (ch.) 


7. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


8. Q. Kt. takes K. B. (ch.) 


8. 


Q. takes Q. Kt. 


9. Q. to K. 5th. 


9. 


Q. takes Q. 


10. Q. P. takes Q. 


10. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


11. Castles. 


11. 


B. to Kt. 2d. 


12. K. Kt. to E. 3d. 


12. 


K. E. to B. sq. 


13. K. E. to Kt. sq. 


13. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


14. P. to K. B. 4th. 


14. 


K. to K. 2d. 


15. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


15. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


16. B. to Kt. 2d. 


16. 


Q. P. takes P. 


17. B. P. takes P. 


17. 


K. E. to B. 4th. 


18. K. E. to K. sq. 


18. 


Q. E. to Q. sq. 


19. P. to K. Kt. 4th.l: 


19. 


Q. E. takes Q. E. (ch.) 


20. K. takes Q. E. 


20. 


E. to K. B. sq. 



* Failing by an oversight to score a game which his extra Pawn ought to 
have insured him. 

f Time, four hours and a half. 
X Apparently tlie best move. 



228 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Lichtenhein. 




Morphy. 


21. B. takes Kt. 


21. 


B. takes B. 


22. K. to Q. 2d. 


22. 


P. to K. E. 3d. 


23. E. to K. 3d. 


23. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th.* 


24. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


24. 


E. to K. B. 8th. 


25. E. to K. sq. 


25. 


E. takes E. 


26. K. takes E. 


26. 


B. to K. 5th. 


27. K. to Q. 2d.t 


27. 


K. to Q. 2d. 


28. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


28. 


K. to Q. B. 3d. 


29. Kt. to B. 2d. 


29. 


B. to Q. Kb. 8th. 


30. Kt. to Q. sq.t 


30. 


B. takes E. P.§ 


31. K. to B. 2d. 


31. 


K. to B. 4th. 


32. Kt. to B. 3d. 


32. 


B. takes Kt. P. (ch.) 


33. K. takes B. 


33. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


34. Kt. to K. 2d. 






And Mr. Morphy wins 


in the Third Section. | 



GAME LV.— SICILIAN OPENHSTa. 

First Game between Paulsen and Eaphael. 



Baphael. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. K. Kt. takes P. 



Paulsen. 

1. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

2. B. p. takes P. 

3. P. to K. 3d. 

4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 



* This confines the Knight until Black is enabled to make an advantageous 
exchange of Rooks. 

f If he moves 21, P. to B. 4th, Black plays 27. B. to Kt. 8th, etc. 

J White, who has thus far conducted the game with commendable pru- 
dence and circumspection, fails to see his adversary's intention of sacrificing 
the Bishop. 

§ It would require a lengthy analysis to determine whether, in thus giving 
up the Bishop for two Pawns, Black opened a certain path to victory. White, 
at any rate, could not hope for more than a drawn game. The two combat- 
ants afterwards played several back games from this point, some of which 
were won by Black, and some drawn. 

II Time, five hours. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



229 





Eaphael. 


Paulsen. 


5. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


6. 


Q. Kt. to R. 4th.* 


6. Q. to Q. R. 4th (eh.) 


7. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


7. K. B. takes K. Kt. 


8. 


Q. takes K. B. 


8. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


9. 


P. to K. B. 3d.t 


9. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


10. 


Q. to Q. sq. 


10. Castles. 


11. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


11. Q. to K. 4th. 


12. 


K. B. to Q. 3d.t 


12. Q. Kt. takes Kt. P. 


13. 


B. P. takes Q. Kt.§ 


13. Q. takes Q. R. 


14. 


Q. to Q. B. 2d. 


14. Q. to Q. 5th. 


15. 


Q. B. to Kt. 2d. 


15. Q. to K. 6th (ch.) 


16. 


K. to Q. sq. 


16. Q. to K. R. 3d. 


17. 


Q. B. to B. sq. 


17. Q. to K. R. 5th. 


18. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


18. P. to Q. 4th. 


19. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


19. Q. to K. R. 4th. 


20. 


Q. to K. B. 2d. 


20. Kt. takes K. P. 


21. 


K. B. takes Kt. 


21. K. P. takes K. B. 


22. 


Q. Kt. takes P. 


22. Q. to Q. 4th (ch.) 


23. 


B. to Q. 2d. 


23. Q. takes R. P. 


24. 


R. to K. sq. 


24. B. to Q. 2d. 


25. 


Q. to K. 3d. 


25. B. to Q. Kt. 4th,|| 




And Whit 


e resignsl. 



* He might now have played 6. Q. B. to K. 3d with safety, since Black 
could not, in that case, capture the Knight's Pawn without a loss of position. 
See two of the games between the winners of the first and second prizes in 
the fourth section. 

f His only move to save the King's Pawn ; he cannot play 9. K. B. to Q. 
3d, because when Black attacks the Queen with Queen's Knight he must 
retreat the Queen to Queen's square, in order to protect the Knight at 
Rook's fourth. 

if This was a most unfortunate error ; he should have brought his Queen's 
Bishop to King's 3d, in which case Black could not capture the Knight's 
Pawn. 

§ Why should he, in addition to the loss of the Pawn, also give up the 
exchange ? Perhaps as good a move as he had was to Castle at once. 

II Although there is no prospect of an immediate mate. Black's great su- 
periority in force must ultimately win. 

^ Time, six hours. 



230 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



GAME LYI.— QUEEN'S KNIGHT'S OPENING. 

Second Game between Paulsen and Raphael. 



Paulsen. 




Eaphael. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. P. to Q. "4th. 


4. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


5. P. to Q. 5th. 


5. 


Q. Kt. to K. 2d.* 


6. K. Kt. takes K. P. 


6. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


7. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


7. 


K. Kt. takes K. P. 


8. Q. to Q. 4th. 


8. 


K. B. takes Q. Kt. (ch.) 


9. Kt. P. takes B. 


9. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


10. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


10. 


Castles. 


11. Castles. 


11. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


12. K. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


12. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


13. P. to Q. R. 4th. 


13. 


Q. Kt. to K. Kt. 3d. 


14. Q. B. to R. 3d. 


14. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


15. K. R. to K. sq. 


15. 


B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


16. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


16. 


Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 


17. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


17. 


K. R. to K. 2d.t 


18. P. to Q. B. 5th. 


18. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


19. B. P. takes P. 


19. 


B. P. takes P. 


20. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


20. 


Q. R. to K. sq. 



* In a game of less importance we should have been tempted to try the 
following: — 

5. K. Kt. takes K. P. 

6. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 
T. Q. B. takes P. 

8. K. B. takes P. (ch.) 

9. K. B. takes Q. R. 
10. Castles. 

and it is a question whether the extra Rook and two Pawns will compensate 
Black for the loss of two minor pieces. White, we believe, cannot now cap- 
ture the King's Pawn with safety. 

f 17. P. to Q. Kt. 3d would have parried the attack which White threatens 
to obtain by the advance of the Queen's Bishop's Pawns. 



6. 


Q. P. takes Kt. 


7. 


B. P. takes P. (ch.) 


8. 


Kt. P. takes Kt. 


9. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


.0. 


Q. takes K. B. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 231 



Paulsen. 

21. P. to Q. B. 5th. 

22. K. E. takes K. R. 

23. K. R. takes Q. 

24. P. to K. B. 3d. 

25. R. to Q. sq. 

26. P. to Q. B. 6th. 

27. K. to R. sq. 

28. Q. P. takes P. 



Eaphael. 

21. Q. Kt. to Q. B. 3d.* 

22. Q. Kt. takes Q. 

23. K. Kt. takes K. R. 

24. R. to K. 7th. 

25. B. to K. R. 6th.t 

26. R. takes Kt. P. (ch.) 

27. Kt. P. takes P. 

28. K. Kt. to K. 4th. 



* This seems to be his best move. The situation is one of considerable 
interest. 

BLACK. 



-# 





e.«,«lii"ll 
im m m 



, m ,, , §M. si , . ,.„#li 

M M^M i 



Wa ,,_^S,. 









Ill ^'""■l^'^S^'^ 



f Prettily played ; if 

26. Kt. P. takes B. 

27. R. takes R. 

28. K. moves, 
with the better game. 



26. R. takes Kt. 

2t. Kt. takes B. P. (ch.) 

28. Kt. takes R. 



232 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Paulsen. 

29. Q. B. takes Q. P. 

30. K. B. to Q. B. 4th.t 

31. Q. B. to K. Kt. 3d. 

32. Kt. to K. 4th. 

33. R. to Q. B. sq. 

34. K. to Kt. sq. 

35. B. to Q. 3d. 

36. Kt. to Q. 6th. 

37. R. to Q. B. 5th. 

38. E. takes R. P. 

39. Kt. to Q. B. 4th. 

40. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 

41. K. takes P. 

42. R. to R. 7th. 

43. P. to R. 5th. 

44. R. to R. 6th. 

45. R. to K. B. 6th (ch.) 



Raphael. 

29. K. Kt. takes Q. B. P.* 

30. R. to K. Kt. 3d. 

31. Q. Kt. to K. B. 4th.t 

32. Q. Kt. to K. 6th. 

33. B. to Kt. 7th (ch.) 

34. B. takes B. P. 

35. P. to K. B. 4th.§ 

36. K. Kt. to Q. 5th. 

37. R. to K. B. 3d. 

38. P. to B. 5th. 

39. P. takes Q. B. 

40. P. takes P. (ch.) 

41. P. to Kt. 4th. 

42. K. to B. sq. 

43. R. to K. B. 2d. 

44. R. to K. 2d. 

45. K. to K. sq. 



* This appears to us the safest move ; if 



30. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 

31. K. B. to Q, 5th. 
and White has a good game. 



But if 



29. 


Q. Kt. takes K. B. P. 


30. 


Kt. takes Kt. 


29. 


K. Kt. takes K. B. P. 


30. 


K. takes B. 


31. 


Kt. takes Kt. 


32. 


E. takes R. P. (ch.) 



30. K. B. takes B. P. (ch.) (A.) 

31. Kt. takes K. Kt. 

32. R. to K. B. sq. 

and Black will win. "White's mistake, in this variation, consists in capturing 
the Bishop's Pawn at the thirtieth move. He should have played as iu the 
variation. 

A. 

30. Kt. takes K. Kt. 30. Kt. takes K. B. 

31. Kt. to Kt. sq. 

and White must win. The situation affords an opportunity for many inter- 
esthig variations. 

f To prevent 3^. Q. Kt. to K. Uh. 

X He ought to have played 31. P. to K. R. 4th. 

§ We should have preferred 35. K. Kt. to K. 4th or Q. 5th. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



233 



Paulsen. 

46. Kt. to K. B. 6th. 

47. B. takes Kt. 



Baphael. 
46. Kt. takes Kt. 



And the game was drawn.* 



GAME LYII.— Kllsra'S GAMBIT EEFUSED. 
Third Game between Paulsen awe? Kaphael. 





Eaphael. 


Paulsen. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


2. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


2. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


K. p. takes P. 


3. K. P. takes P.t 


4, 


K. Kt. to B. 3d.t 


4. K. B. to K. 2d.§ 


5. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


. 5. K. B. to K. 5th (ch.) 


6. 


K. to B. sq. 


6. Q. B. to Kt. 5th. 


7. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


7. K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


8. 


Q. B. takes B. P. 


8. Castles. 


9. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


9. K. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 


10. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


10. Q. B. takes K. Kt. 


11. 


Kt. P. takes B. 


11. Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


12. 


Kt. to K. 4th. 


12. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 


13. 


Q. B. takes Q. Kt. 


13. Kt. takes Q. B. 



* Time, fourteen hours. 

f This is better than 3. Q. takes Q. P. 

X The correct move. 

§ The proper play at this stage of the opening is 4. K. B. to Q. 3d, and the 
game is perfectly even. But if he had played 4. Q. takes Q. P. the following 
variation would probably have occurred: — 

4. Q. takes Q. P. 



5. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. K. to B. 2d. 

7. P. to Q. 4th. 

8. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

9. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 

10. K. E. to K. sq. 

11. Q. Kt. takes K. B. (ch.) 

12. Q. B. takes P. 
and White's game is preferable (See Leitfaden, 185t, p. 204). 



5. Q. to K. 3d (ch.) 

6. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 

7. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

8. K. Kt. to K. 2d. 

9. P. to K. B. 3d. 

10. Q. to K. B. 2d. 

11. B. P. takes Q. Kt. 



234 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Baphael. 


Paulsen. 


14. Q. to Kt. 2d. 


14. P. to K. B. 4th. 


15. K. K. to Kt. sq. 


15. Kt. to Kt. 5th.* 


16. K. to K. 2d. 


16. B. P. takes Kt. 


17. Q. takes Kt.t 


17. P. takes B. P. (ch.) 


18. K. to Q. 2d. 


18. Q. to K. B. 3d. 


19. Q. to K. 6th (ch.) 


19. K. to R. sq. 


20. Q. takes Q. 


20. B. takes Q. 


21. Q. R. to K. B. sq. 


21. Q. R. to K. sq. 


22. Q. R. takes B. P.J 


22. B. to Kt. 4th (ch.) 


23. K. R. takes B. 


23. K. R. takes Q. R. 


24. R. to Kt. 2d. 


24. P. to K. R. 3d. 


25. P. to Q. 6th. 


25. B. P. takes P. 


26. B. to Q. 5th. 


26. K. R. to K. B. 3d. 


27. B. takes Kt. P. 


27. Q. R. to Q. Kt. sq. 


28. B. to Q. 5th. 


28. Q. R. takes Kt. P. 


29. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


29. R. to Kt. 8th.§ 


30. K. to Q. B. 3d. 


30. Q. R. to K. 8th. 


31. K. to Q. 4th. 


31. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


32. P. to Q. R. 4th. 


32. P. to Q. R. 4th. 


33. B. to Q. 5th. 


33. Q. R. to K. 4th. 


34. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


34. K. to Kt. 2d. 


35. R. to Q. Kt. 2d. 


35. Q. R. to K. 2d. 


36. B. to K. 4th. 


36. Q. R. to R. 2d. 


37. K. to Q. 5th. 


37. Q. R. to R. 3d. 


38. P. to Q. 4th. 


38. K. R. to B. 2d. 


39. P. to B. 5th. 


39. Q. P. takes P. 


40. Q. P. takes P. 


40. Q. R. to R. sq. 


41. P. to B. 6th. 


41. Q. R. to Q. sq. (ch.) 



* Well played, for if White capture the Knight with Pawn, Black will win 
the Queen. 

f Should he play 



17. Q. P. takes P. 

18. Q. takes Kt. 

19. R. takes B. 



IT. B. to B. Tth. 

18. B. takes K. R. 

19. Q. to K. B. 3d. 



and White, although he has a minor piece and two Pawns for the Rook, 
would hardly be able to win. 

X This loses the exchange, but there was nothing better. 

§ Necessary ; otherwise Wliite wins the Rook by 30. R. to Kt. sq., followed 
by 31. K. to B. 3d. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



235 





Eaphael. 


Paulsen. 


42. 


K. to B. 5th. 


42. K. R. to B. 5th. 


43. 


R. to Kt. 7th (ch.) 


43. K. to B. 3d. 


44. 


P. to B. 7th. 


44. R. to Q. B. sq. 


45. 


B. to Q. B. 6th. 


45. K. to K. 2d. 


46. 


R. to Q. E. 7th.* 


46. K. R. to B. 4th (ch.) 


47. 


K. to Kt. 6th. 


47. K. to Q. 3d. 


48. 


R. to R. 8th. 


48. Q. R. takes R. 


49. 


B. takes Q. R. 


49. R. to Q. B. 4th. 


50. 


B. to K. B. 3d. 


50. R. takes B. P. 


51. 


K. takes P. 


51. K. to B. 4th. 


52. 


K. to R. 6th. 


52. R. to K. B. 2d. 


53. 


B. to Kt. 4th. 


53. K. to Kt. 5th. 




And Mr. Paulsen win 


3 in the Third Section.t 



FOURTH SECTI0N4 
COMBATAKTS. 

LiCHTENHEIN AND RAPHAEL. | MoRPHY AND PaULSEN. 

GAME LYIII.— RUY LOPEZ OPENING. 
First Game between Lichtenhein and Raphael. 



Lichtenheiii. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 



Eaphael. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 



* 46. K. to Kt. 6th would not have been much better ; suppose 
46. K. to Kt. 6th. I 46. K. to Q. 3d. 

4*7. R. to Kt. 8th. I 

Black cannot take the Bishop's Pawn on account of White's playing 48. R. 
to Q. 8th (ch.), etc., therefore 

I 47. K. R. to K. B. sq. 

48. R. to Kt. Uh. I 48. K. R. to B. 2d. 

and Black should win. 

f Time, seven hours and a half. The second player, although his oppo- 
nent had only scored two games, resigned the match at this stage. 

X In this Section Lichtenhein and Raphael play to decide who shall take 
the third and who the fourth prize ; Morphy and Paulsen to ascertain who 
shall be entitled to the first and who to the second prize. 



236 Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Lichtenhein. 




Bapfaael. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d.* 


4. 


p. to Q. 3d.t 


5. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


5. 


K. P. takes P. 


6. 


K. Kt. takes P. 


6. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


7. 


K. B. takes Q. Kt. 


7. 


Kt. P. takes K. B. 


8. 


Castles. 


8. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


9. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


9. 


Castles. 


10. 


P. to K. 5th. 


10. 


Kt. to K. sq.t 


11. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


11. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


12. 


K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


12. 


P. to K. B. 3d.§ 


13. 


Q. to Q. 5th (ch.) 


13. 


K. to R. sq. 


14. 


P. to K. 6th. 


14. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


15. 


Q. to K. B. 5th. 


15. 


Q. B. to B. sq. 


16. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 


16. 


P. to Kt. 3d. 


17. 


Q. to K. 4th. 


17. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


18. 


Q. to K. 4th. 


18. 


Q. to Q. 3d.l 


19. 


P. to K. B. 5th. 


19. 


Kt. P. takes P. 


20. 


B. to E. 6th. 


20. 


K. R. to Kt. sq. 


21. 


K. Kt. takes P. 


21. 


Q. to B. 2d. 


22. 


Q. R. to K. sq. 


22. 


P. to Q. 5th. 


23. 


B. to B. 4th. 


23. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


24. 


K. Kt. takes K. B. 


24. 


Kt. takes K. Kt. 


25. 


Kt. to K. 4th. 


25. 


Q. to K. Kt. 2d. 



* Von der Lasa seems to favor 4. Q. to K. 2d, although he does not con- 
sider the move in the text a bad one ; Lange (Sammlung neuer Schachpartien, 
p. 55) decidedly prefers 4. Castles, or 4. P. to Q. 4th. 

f Very weak ; he should have played 4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 



Jlf 



10. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

11. Kt. to K. 6th. 

12. Kt. takes K. R. 



11. P. toK. 6th. 

12. Q. to B. 3d. 

13. K. P. takes Q. B. 
and wins two pieces for the Rook. 

§ Very bad ; although Black's position, in consequence of his erroneous 
fourth move, is already so confined that it is difficult to say what he could 
have done better. Perhaps his best course was to play 12. P. to K. Kt. 3d, 
with a view of freeing his Knight, now so unfortunately placed. 

II If he take the King's Pawn with Bishop, White will capture the Bishop's 
Pawn. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



237 





Lichtenhein, 


Eaphael. 


26. 


B. to Kt. 3d. 


26. Kt. takes Kt. 


27. 


Q. R. takes Kt. 


27. P. to K. R. 3d 


28. 
29. 


K. E. takes B. P.* 
K. E. to B. 7th. 


28. K. to R. 2d. 




And Black resigns.t 



GAME LIX.— BISHOP'S GAMBIT. 

Second Game hetween Lichtenhein and Raphael. 



Baphael. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to K. B. 4th. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. Q. Kt. to B. 3d.§ 

5. Q. to K. B. 3d. 

6. Q. P. takes K. B. 

7. Q. B. takes P. 

8. Q. B. takes B. P.|| 

9. Q. takes K. Kt. 

10. Castles. 

11. Q. R. to K. B. sq. 

12. B. to Kt. 3d. 

13. Kt. to B. 3d. 

14. B. P. takes B. 

15. P. to K. R. 4th. 

16. Q. takes Kt. 

17. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

18. P. to K. R. 5th. 

19. Q. to B. 2d. 

20. P. to R. 6th. 

21. Q. to B. 4th. 



lichtenhein. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. P. takes P. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d.]: 

4. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

5. K. B. takes Q. Kt. 

6. Castles. 

7. K. Kt. takes P. 

8. Q. takes Q. B. 

9. P. to Q. 3d. 

10. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

11. Kt. to K. 4th. 

12. B. to K. 3d. 

13. B. takes B. 

14. Q. R. to K. sq. 

15. Kt. takes Kt. 

16. Q. R. to K. 3d. 

17. K. R. to K. sq. 

18. Q. R. to K. 6th. 

19. Q. to K. 2d. 

20. Q. R. to K. 7th. 

21. Q. R. to K. 5th. 



* Well conceived ; Black cannot now escape some immediate loss, 
f Time, two hours and three quarters. 

I A favorite defence of the first player, who has used it for several years ; 
it seems to be good. 

§ Perhaps as good a reply as any to Black's third move. 
1 Well played. 



238 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Baphael. 




Lichtenheln. 


22. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 




22. Q. R. to K. 6th. 


23. 


Q. to K. B. 2d. 




23. Q. to K. 3d. 


24. 


P. to K. Kt. 5tli. 




24. Q. R. to K. 7th. 


25. 


Q. to K. B. 4th. 




25. Q. to K. Kt. 3d.* 


26. 


Q. to B. 5th. 




26. Q. takes Q. 


27. 


Q. R. takes Q. 




27. Kt. P. takes P. 


28. 


K. E. takes P. 




28. Q. R. to K. 8th (ch.) 


29. 


K. to Q. 2d. 




29. K. R. to K. 7th (ch.) 


30. 


K. to Q. 3d. 




30. K. R. takes Kt. P. 


31. 


K. R. to B. 6th. 




31. Q. R. to K. 2d. 


32. 


K. R. takes K. P. 




32. K. R. takes R. P. 




And, after a 


few moves, White resigns.! 



GAME LX.— IRREGULAR OPENINa. 
Third Game between Lichtenhein and Raphael. 



Lichtenhein. 

1. P. to Q. 4th. 

2. p. to Q. 5th.§ 



Eaphael. 

1. P. to Q. B. 4th.t 

2. P. to K. B. 4th.|| 



* Black is now enabled to accomplish what he has evidently been so long 
endeavoring to bring about — an exchange of Queens. 

f Time, four hours. 

:|: This defence is first given by Reinganum [Ben- Oni oder die Vertheidi- 
gungen gegen die GambitziXgey p. 100), and was adopted by St. Amant in two 
of his games against Staunton. It is not so good as 1. P. to Q. 4th, or 1. P. 
to K. B. 4th. 

§ Much better than 2. P. to K. 4tb, or 2. P. takes P. 

II The move given by the authors is 2. P. to K. 4th, but even then "White 
gets the advantage, as may be seen from the following : — 

2. P. to K. 4th. 
8. P. to K. 4th. 3. P. to Q. 3d. 

4. P. to K. B. 4th. 

Preferable to the move 4 P. to Q. B. 4th, given in Staunton's Handbook — 

I 4. P. to K. B. 4th. 

5. K. B. to Q. 3d. I 5. B. P. takes P. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



239 



Lichtenhein. 

3. P. to K. 4th. 

4. K. B. to Q. 3d. 
6. K. B. takes P. 

6. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

7. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

8. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

9. P. to K. B. 4th. 

10. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

11. Q. Kt. takes K. Kt. 

12. Q. Kt. to K. Kt. 3d. 

13. Castles. 

14. K. Kt. to R. 4th. 

15. Q. Kt. takes Q. B. 

16. B. to Q. 2d. 

17. B. to B. 3d. 

18. Q. to K. R. 5th. 

19. Q. to Kt. 6th (ch.) 

20. K. R. to B. 3d. 

21. K. K. to K. Kt. 3d. 

22. Q. P. takes P. (in pass.) 



3. P. to Q. 3d. 

4. B. P. takes P. 

5. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

7. K. B. to Kt. 2d. 

8. Castles. 

9. P. to K. R. 3d. 

10. K. Kt. takes K. B. 

11. Q. B. to K. B. 4th. 

12. Q. to Q. 2d. * 

13. Kt. to R. 3d. 

14. K. R. to B. 3d. 

15. Kt. P. takes Q. Kt. 

16. K. R. to B. 2d.t 

17. K. to R. 2d.t 

18. Q. R. to K. B. sq. 

19. K. to Kt. sq.§ 

20. Kt. to Q. B. 2d.i 

21. P. to K. 4th. 

22. Q. takes P.l 



6. 


K. B. takes P. 


•7. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


8. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


9. 


B. P. takes P. 


10. 


Castles. 



K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

K. B. to K. 2d. 

Castles. 

Q. P. takes P. 



and White has a better developed game. 

* We should have preferred 12. Q. to R. 4th (ch.), followed, if White played 
13. K. to B. 2d, by 13, Q. to Kt. 5th, and if White moved 13. B. to Q. 2d, by 
13. Q. to Kt. 4th. 

t If 16. P. to K. 4th, White's proper reply would be 11. B. P. takes 
Q. P. 

X He should have taken off the Bishop. 

§ If 19. K. to R. sq , White could at once capture the Rook's Pawn, giving 
check. 

11 There appears to be really nothing better ; he cannot advance his King's 
Pawn without losing it, and in order to drive the White Queen from her 
threatening position he would be compelled to sacrifice the exchange. 

% Affording White an opportunity of which he does not hesitate to take 
advantage. 



240 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Lichtenhein. 

23. Q. takes B. (ch.)* 

24. K. K. takes K. R. (ch.) 

25. Kt. to Kt. 6th. (ch.) 

And Mr. Lichtenhein wins the Third Prize.t 



Baphael. 

23. K. R. takes Q. 

24. K. to R. sq. 



GAME LXI.— SICILIAN OPENING-. 

First Game between Morpiiy and Paulsen. 



Morphy. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 



Paulsen. 

1. P. toQ.B. 4th. 

2. B. P. takes P. 



The terminating moves are elegantly played : — 










JiiP 







'mm, .,. ^ 



w.^.3M 



-mr m- 



Wh 




y////////A 



PH 



Pi « 



m mmi '■i</kyM '-'M^a 

'mm. 'mm mm', i^i 



m Si 
H I 




fa 

V////y///// 









'y^^^/A 



\ Time, three hours. Dr. Raphael, of course, takes the Fourth Prize. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



241 





Morphy. 




Paulsen. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


P. to K. 3d. 


4. 


K. Kt. takes P. 


4. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th 


5. 


K. Kt. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 3c 


6. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


6. 


K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


7. 


Q. B. to K. B. 4th. 


7. 


Castles.* 


8. 


Q. B. to Q. 6th. 


8. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


9. 


P. to K. 5th. 


9. 


P. to Q. R. 3d. 


10. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


10. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


11. 


Castles. 


11. 


K. R. to B. 2d. 


12. 


K. to E. sq. 


12. 


P. to K. B. 5th.t 


13. 


Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 


13. 


K. Kt. to B. 4th. 


14. 


K. B. to R. 5th. 


14. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


15. 


K. B. to Kt. 4th. 


15. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 2d. 


16. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


16. 


P. to K. R. 4th. 


17. 


K. B. to R. 3d. 


17. 


Q. to K. R. 5th. 


18. 


Q. Kt. to B. 6th (ch.) 


18. 


K. to R. sq. 


19. 


Q. to K. 4th. 


19. 


Q. to K. Kt. 4th.t 


20. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


20. 


P. to K. B. 6th. 


21. 


K. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


21. 


K. B. to Q. sq. 


22. 


K. Kt. takes B. P. 


22. 


Q. to K. R. 3d. 


23. 


K. R. to Kt. sq. 


23. 


K. B. takes Q. Kt. 


24. 


K. P. takes B. 


24. 


K. Kt. to K. sq. 


25. 


Q. B. to K. B. 4th. 


25. 


K. Kt. takes B. P. 


26. 


Q. takes Q. Kt. 


26. 


Q. takes Q. B. 


27. 


Q. takes B. (ch.) 


27. 


Q. R. takes Q. 


28. 


Kt. P. takes Q. 


28. 


Q. R. takes B. P. 


29. 


Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 


29. 


Q. R. takes K. B. 


30. 


Q. R. to B. 8th (ch.) 


30. 


Kt. to Kt. sq.ll 



* We should have preferred 1. P. to Q. 4th. By Castling at this point 
Black allows the first player to post his Queen's Bishop in a position which 
cramps his adversary's movements during the remainder of the game. 

f The advance of this Pawn was unadvisable, and ultimately led to its 
loss. Besides, it permits White to move his Queen's Knight advantageously. 

X The only method of defending the threatened Knight's Pawn. 

§ Although this loses a piece at once, he had no move that was much 
better. If 25. Q. to R. 2d, White replies with 26. Kt. to Kt. 5th, and if 25. 
Q. to K. B. sq.. White would capture the Knight\s Pawn. 

II His best move, bad as it is. 

11 



242 Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Morphy. 




Paulsen. 


31. 


Kt. to K. 5th. 


31. 


K. E. to Kt. 2d. 


32. 


Kt. takes Kt. P. (ch.) 


32. 


K. to E. 2d. 


33. 


Kt. to B. 8th (ch.) 


33. 


K. to E. 3d.* 


34. 


Kt. takes Q. P. 


34. 


K. E. takes Kt. 


35. 


Q. E. takes Kt. 


35. 


Q. E. takes B. P, 


36. 


B. takes K. P. 


36. 


K. E. to K. 2d. 



And White mates in four moves.t 



aAME LXII— EUY LOPEZ OPElSTIlSra. 
Second Qame hetween Morphy and Paulsen. 





Paulsen. 




Morphy. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. 


K. Kt. to E. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


3. 


K. Kt. toB. 3d. 


4. 


Castles. 


4. 


K. Kt. takes K. P 


5. 


P. to Q. 4th4 


5. 


P. to Q. E. 3d.§ 


6. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


6. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


7. 


K. Kt. takes K. P. 


7. 


Q. Kt. takes Q. P. 


8. 


K. E. to K. sq.T 


8. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 



* If 33. K. to E. sq., White would still play 34. Kt. takes Q. P. 

f Time, five hours and a half. 

X The move usually given here is 5. K. E. to K. sq. Lange, however, 
commends the method of play adopted in the text. 

§ Lange thinks that both of the following replies to White's fifth move, 
5. Q. Kt. takes P., and 5. K P. takes P., give the first player an advantage ; 
he therefore recommends 5. K. B. to K. 2d. 5. P. to Q. R. 3d seems as good 
as any, since whether White retreat the Bishop to Rook's fourth, or Queen's 
third. Black will equally accomplish his object, namely, the advance of the 
Queen's Pawn. 

II If Black, instead of capturing the Queen's Pawn, should take the King's 
Knight with Queen's Knight, White, after the exchange of pieces, would have 
a slightly preferable position. 

^ This appears to be the correct play. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



24. 



Paulsen. 


Morphy. 


9. P. to Q. B. 3d.* 


9. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


10. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


10. Kt. P. takes K. Kt 


11. Q. to Q. E. 4th. 


11. Q. to Q. 2d. 


12. K. B. takes Kt. 


12. Q. P. takes K. B. 


13. Q. takes K. P. 


13. K. B. to Q. 3d. 


U. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


14. Castles (K. R.) 


15. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


15. Q. B. to Q. 4th.t 


16. Q. to Q. 3d. 


16. Q. R. to K. sq. 


17. B. to Kt. 5th. t 


17. Q. to Kt. 5th. 


18. P. to K. R. 3d. 


18. Q. to K. R. 4th. 


19. B. to Q. 2d.§ 


19. Q. R. to K. 3d. 


20. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


20. Q. R. to Kt. 3d. 


21. Kt. to K. 4th.l 


21. Q. R. takes Kt. P. 


22. K. takes R. 


22. P. to K. B. 4th. 


23. P. to K. B. 3d. 


23. Q. to Kt. 3d (ch.)*^ 


If 9. K. B. takes K. Kt. 


9. Q. P. takes K. B. 


10. K. R. takes K. P. 


10. Kt. to Kt. 6th. 


11. Q. to K. B. 3d (best). 


11. Kt. takes E. 


12. K. Kt. takes B. P. 


12. Q. to Q. 2d. 


13. K. Kt. takes K. R. 


13. Castles. 



(ch.)ir 



with a good game. 

f Black has already obtained an undeniable advantage in position ; his 
Bishops occupy a very threatening situation. 

if 17. B. to Q. 2d at once would have saved time. 

§ If 19. B. to R. 4th, he would obviously lose a piece; if 19. B. toK. 
3d, Black would get a great attack by 19. Q. B. takes Kt., and 20. Q. takes 
R. P. 

II Any other move would have lost the Knight, or led equally to a winning 
attack. 

Tf This sacrifice is perfectly sound, and should, with correct after-play, 
have resulted in an immediate victory ; White, by refusing to capture the 
proffered Rook, would only hasten his defeat. 

** A most unfortunate slip. As soon as the second player had touched 
the Queen he remarked that had he taken the Knight the contest could not 
have been prolonged a dozen moves. And that he had the winning combi- 
nation in his mind he proved by playing over the following variations imme- 
diately after the close of the game. Black's error consisted in reversing what 



244 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Paulsen. 

24. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

25. P. to Q. B. 4th. 



Morphy. 

24. P. to K. E. 3d. 

25. Q. B. to B. 2d. 



should have been his twenty-third and twenty-fourth moves. 








i 4M 



k ^^ i mm 



IMi W y//////m 






m mm, 







'mm. Wm^-'<^^ 




ill 



y///////y/^. 



Ill ^^ 




4a 



WHITE. 

The second player should now have moved thus : — 

I 23. B. P. takes Kt. ^ 

24 K. R. takes P. (A.) | 24. Q. to Kt. 3d (ch!) 

If now White move 25. K. to B. sq. or B. 2d, Black plays 25. Q. B. takes K. 
B., winning, and if 25. K. B. to Kt. 4th, Black gains the Queen ; therefore 

25. K. to B. sq. ■ I 25. R. takes B. P. 

26. K. R. to K. 8th (ch.) | 26. R. to B. sq. (ch.) 

and wins. If White venture at his twenty-sixth move to capture the Rook 
Black will play 26. Q. B. takes R., winning the Queen. 

A. 
24. P. takes P. | 24. Q. to Kt. 3d. (ch.) 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



245 



26. P. 

27. Q. 

28. E. 

29. K. 

30. P. 

31. Q. 

32. K. 

33. K. 

34. B. 

35. P. 

36. Q. 

37. Q. 

38. K. 

39. Q. 

40. Q. 

41. K. 

42. Q. 

43. Q. 

44. B. 

45. Q. 

46. Q. 

47. E. 

48. B. 

49. E. 

50. Q. 

51. B. 



Paulsen, 
to K. E. 4th. 
to B. 2d. 
P. takes P. 
E. to E. sq. 
to K. B. 4th. 
E. to K. sq. 
E. to E. 3d. 
to Kt. sq. 
to B. sq. 
to Q. Kt. 3d. 
to K. 2d. 
to K. B. 2d.* 
E. to K. 3d. 
to K. E. 4th. 
to E. 3d. 
E. takes E. 
to K. 3d.t 
to E. 3d4 
to K. 3d. 
to K. B. sq. 
to B. 2d. 
to K. 2d. 
to B. sq. 
to Q. 2d. 
to K. 3d. 
to Kt. 2d. 



26. E. 

27. E. 

28. Q. 

29. K. 

30. P. 

31. K. 

32. Q. 

33. Q. 

34. E. 

35. K. 

36. E. 

37. Q. 

38. Q. 

39. K. 

40. K. 

41. Q. 

42. Q. 

43. Q. 

44. Q. 

45. Q. 

46. Q. 

47. Q. 

48. Q. 

49. Q. 

50. Q. 

51. K. 



Morphy. 
to Q. sq. 
P. takes Kt. 
B. to K. 3d. 
B. to K. 2d. 
to Q. B. 4th. 
to B. 2d. 
B. to B. sq. 
B. to Kt. 2d. 
to Q. 5th. 
B. to Q. 3d. 
to K. 5th. 
to K. 3d. 
to Q. 2d. 
to Kt. 3d. 
B. to K. 2d. 
B. takes K. E. 
to Q. sq. 
to Q. 5th (ch.) 
to Q. B. 6th 
to E. 4th. 
to Kt. 3d. 
to B. 3d. 
to Q. 2d. 
to K. 3d. 
to Q. B. 3d. 
to B. 2d. 



25. K. to E sq. l 25. R to B. 7th. 

26. K. R. to Kt. sq. | 26. Q B. takes K, P. (cb.) 
and wins. Or Black might have played 24. Q. to K. 4th, mating or winning 
Queen directty. If White should play 24, Q. to K. B. sq., Black gains at 
once by 24. E. takes B. P. 

* He cannot afford to lose the King's Bishop's Pawn, since, if he gives 
it up, the Knight's Pawn must ultimately fall, and Black with his two 
passed Pawns on the King's flank would stand a very good chance of 
winning. 

f If he had taken the Bishop, Black would have checked with the Queen 
at Queen's eighth, and afterwards captured the Eook. 

X Fearful of Black's threatened move of 43. Q. to K. R. sq. 



246 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Paulsen. 

52. Q. to E. 3d. 

53. R. to K. R. 2d. 



Morphy. 

52. Q. to Kt. 3d. 

53. Q. to Q. 3d. 



And the game was finally drawn.* 



G-AME LXIII.— lEREaULAR OPENINa. 

Third Game between Morphy and Paulsen. 



Paulsen. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d.t 



Morphy. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th.t 



* The game was prolonged to the fifty-sixth move, but was not recorded 
farther. It lasted three sittings, and consumed fifteen hours. The time 
occupied by each player on every move was accurately taken down, and we 
give here the moves which exceeded five minutes. 
The first player considered 



On move 6. 


... 9 


minutes. 


On move 38 . . 


. . 24 minutes. 


8. 


...15 


ti 


39.. 


..23 


(( 


9. 


...11 


a 


40.. 


..14 


u 


" 16. 


...11 


u 


" 41.. 


..17 


(( 


" 11. 


...25 


u 


'* 42. . 


..22 


u 


" 20. 


...11 


(< 


43.. 


..41 


u 


« 22. 


...10 


(( 


" 46. . 


..12 


It 


" 23. 


...35 


(( 


47.. 


..14 


(t 


27. 


...15 


11 


48.. 


..36 


u 


" 29. 


...10 


(( 


" 50.. 


.. 9 


<( 


" 31. 


...12 


u 


" 51.. 


..13 


u 


" 32. 


...24 


:< 


" 52.. 


..75 


tt 


" 33. 


... 9 


C 


" 53.. 


..35 


tt 


36. 


...26 


<( 


•' 54. . 


..49 


It 


37. 


...22 


li 


" 55. . 


..27 


(( 






The second player considered 






On move 45 . 


. . .6 minutes. 


On move 51. . 


..10 


minutes. 


'' 49. 


...9 


t( 









f This seems to be a favorite debtit with the first player. It leads either 
to a sort of irregular Ruy Lopez Opening, or to the Queen's Knight's Opening. 
X 3. K. Kt. to B. 3d is the proper play. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



247 





Paulsen. 




Morphy. 


4. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


4. 


P. to Q. 3d.* 


5. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


5. 


K. P. takes P. 


6. 


K. Kt. takes P. 


6. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


7. 


K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


7. 


Kt. P. takes K. Kt. 


8. 


K. B. to R. 4th. 


8. 


Q. to K. R. 5th. 


9. 


Castles. 


9. 


Kt. to B. 3d. 


10. 


Q. to B. 3d. 


10. 


Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


11. 


Q. B. to K. B. 4th. 


11. 


Kt. to K. 4th. 


12. 


Q. to Kt. 3d. 


12. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


13. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


13. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


14. 


K. to R. sq. 


14. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


15. 


Q. B. takes Kt. 


15. 


Q. P. takes Q. B. 


16. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th.t 


16. 


K. B. to Q. 3d.t 


17. 


Q. R. to Q. 3d. 


17. 


P. to K. R. 4th. 


18. 


K. R. to Q. sq. 


18. 


P. to Q. R. 3d. 


19. 


Kt. to K. 2d. 


19. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


20. 


P. to Q. R. 3d. 


20. 


P. to K. Kt. 5th. 


21. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


21. 


Q. to R. 3d. 


22. 


P. to Q. B. 5th. 


22. 


P. to K. R. 5th. 


23. 


Q. to K. 3d. 


23. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


24. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


24. 


K. P. takes P. 


25. 


Q. takes P. 


25. 


Q. takes Q. 


26. 


Kt. takes Q. 


26. 


K. R. to R. 3d. 


27. 


Kt. to K. 2d. 


27. 


P. to K. B. 4th.§ 



* Again he should have played out the King's Knight. 

f Yery finely played. 

if Black cannot take the Pawn ; for if 



16. K. B. takes Kt. P. 

17. K. takes R. (A.) 

18. Q. to Q. 3d. 

19. K. moves. 

20. Q. takes Kt. 



17. Q. R. takes Q. B. 

18. Kt. to Q. 5th. 

19. Q. to K. R. 3d (ch.) 

20. Kt. takes B. 

21. B. takes B. P. 
and White must win the exchange back with a fine position. 

A. 

I 17. K. B. takes Kt. 

18. Q. R. takes Q. B. P. | 

having a much superior game. 

§ He scarcely has any move much better ; his position is very crowded. 



248 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Panlsen. 

28. P. to K. 5th. 

29. K. Kt. to B. 4th. 

30. Q. R. takes Q. B.* 

31. B. takes B. P. 

32. P. takes B. 

33. K. to Kt. sq. 

34. B. takes Q. E. 



Morphy. 

28. K. R. to K 3d. 

29. R. takes K. P. 

30. Q. R. takes Q. R. 

31. B. to Q. 3d. 

32. B. P. takes P. 

33. K. to Q. sq. 

34. K. takes B. 



And White wins.t 



aAME LXIY.-^SICILIAISr OPENINa. 

Fifth Game between Morphy and Paulsen.J 



Morphy. 


Paulsen. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to Q. B. 4th 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. P. to K. 3d. 



* "White vigorously avails himself of his advantage in position. 
f Time, eleven hours, of which the moves exceeding five minutes in length 
were divided as follows : — 

The first player considered 



On move 9.. 


..12 


minutes. 


On move 


19.. 


..28 


minutes. 


10 . 


..10 






21.. 


..10 




12.. 


..14 






24.. 


..25 




14. . 


..21 






27.. 


..15 




" 15.. 


..36 






28.. 


.. 6 




" 16.. 


..19 






29.. 


.11 




" 17.. 


..20 






30.. 


.. 8 




18.. 


..18 






33.. 


.. 6 






The second player considered 








On move 14. . 


..11 


minutes. 


On move 


27.. 


. .7 minutes. 


'* 21.. 


.. 8 


ti 


'' 


29.. 


..6 


a 



X Upon annotating the parties in this Section, it was found that the fourth 
encounter — a drawn game — between these players was not among the papers 
of the Congress. It was not considered advisable, however, to delay the 
printer until a copy could be obtained from Mr. Morphy. It is also very 
doubtful whether the present game was actually played in the tournament. 
It was found, however, among the documents of the Congress, but simply 
endorsed " Game between Morphy and Paulsen." 



Games in the Grand Tournament 



249 





Morphy. 




Paulsen. 


8. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


B. P. takes P. 


4. 


K. Kt. takes P. 


4. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


5. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


5. 


Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


6. 


K. Kt. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


6. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d.* 


7. 


Q. B. takes K. B. 


7. 


Q. takes Q. B. 


8. 


K. Kt. to Q. 6th (ch.) 


8. 


K. to K. 2d. 


9. 


K. Kt. takes B. (ch.) 


9. 


K. R. takes K. Kt. 


10. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


10. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


11. 


Castles. 


11. 


P. to K. R. 4th. 


12. 


Kt. to Q. 2d. 


12. 


P. to K. R. 5th. 


13. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


13. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th,t 


14. 


P. to Q. R 3d. 


14. 


K. R. to Kt. sq. 


15. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


15. 


Q. to Kt. 3d. 


16. 


Kt. to Q. B. 4th. 


16. 


Q. to B. 2d. 


17. 


P. to K. B. 3d.t 


17. 


Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 


18. 


Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


18. 


Q. takes Kt. 


19. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


19. 


K R. to Kt. 2d.§ 


20. 


Q. E. to Q. sq. 


20. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


21. 


Q. to K. B. 2d. 


21. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


22. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


22. 


Kt. P. takes P. 


23. 


Q. takes B. P. 


23. 


Q. to K. Kt. 4th. 


24. 


K. R. to B. 2d. 


24. 


Q. takes Q. 


25. 


K. E. takes Q. 


25. 


Q. R. to K. Kt. sq. 


26. 


Q. K to Q. 2d.l 


26. 


Q. R. to K. R. sq. 


27. 


P. to K. 5th. 


27. 


Kt. to Q. 4th. 


28. 


K. R. to Q. 4th. 


28. 


P. to K. B. 3d.ir 


29. 


K. P. takes P. (ch.) 


29. 


Kt. takes B. P. 


30. 


K. R. to Q. B. 4th.** 


30. 


K. to Q. sq. 



* If he had played 6. K. B. takes Q. B., White would have obtained a good 
game by 1. K. Kt. to Q. 6th (ch.) 

f Black's proper course undoubtedly is to commence an attack on the Castled 
King. 

J Necessary, in order to prevent the further advance of the adverse King's 
Knight's Pawn. 

§ We should have preferred 19. Kt. to R. 4th. 

II Much better than 26. K. R. to B. 2d, since this forces him to defend dis- 
advantageously his King's Rook's Pawn. 

Tf His best move. 

** If 30. B. to Q. Kt. 6th, Black would simply advance 30. P. to Q. 4th. 

11* 



250 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 





Morphy, 




Paulsen. 


31. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


31. 


Kt. to Q. 4th. 


32. 


B. to K. 4th. 


32. 


Kt. to Q. B. 2d. 


33. 


B. to B. 3d. 


33. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


34. 


K. R. to B. 6th. 


34. 


K. R. to Q. 2d. 


35. 


B. to Kt. 4th. 


35. 


Q. R. to K. R. 3d. 


36. 


Q. R. to K. 2d. 


36. 


K. to K. 2d. 


37. 


K. to E. 2d.* 


37. 


K. to B. 2d. 


38. 


P. to Kt. 3d. 


38. 


R. P. takes P. (ch.) 


39. 


K. takes P. 


39. 


R. to K. 2d. 


40. 


P. to K. R. 4th. 


40. 


Kt. to K. sq. 


41. 


P. to K. R. 5th. 


41. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


42. 


K. R. takes P. 


42. 


K. R. takes K. R. 


43. 


B. takes K. R. (ch.) 


43. 


K. to Kt. 2d.t 


44. 


B. to Kt. 4th. 


44. 


Kt. takes R. P. (ch.) 


45. 


B. takes Kt. 


45. 


R. takes B. 


46. 


R. to K. 7th (ch.) 


46. 


K. to B. 3d. 


47. 


R. takes R. P. 


47. 


K. to K. 4th. 


48. 


R. to R. 6th. 


48. 


R. to Kt. 4th (ch.) 


49. 


K. to B. 3d. 


49. 


R. to B. 4th (ch.) 


50. 


K. to K. 2d. 


50. 


P. to Kt. 4th.t 


51. 


R. P. takes P. 


51. 


R. to B. 5th. 


52. 


P. to B. 3d. 


52. 


P. to Q. 5th. 


63. 


P. to B. 4th.§ 


53. 


R. to R. 5th. 


54. 


P. to B. 5th. 


54. 


R. to R. 7th (ch.) 


55. 


K. to Q. 3d. 


55. 


R. to R. 6th (ch.) 


56. 


K. to B. 2d. 


56. 


R. to R. 7th (ch.) 



* Black's centre Pawns are so strongly guarded that it was not possible 
with the forces now in action to make any impression upon his position. It 
was necessary, therefore, to make the King and King's Rook's Pawn ope- 
rative. 

f He would have avoided the loss of a Pawn by playing his King to 
Bishop's square. 



^ This Pawn cannot be rescued ; if 



51. P. to R. 5th. 

52. R. takes R. 

53. P. takes P. 
and wins easily. 

§ Much better, of course, than taking the Pawn, 



50. 
51, 
52. 



R. to B. 3d. 
P. takes P. 
K. takes R. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



251 



Morphy. 

57. K. to Kt. 3d. 

68. K. to B. 4th. 

69. E. to Q. 6th (ch.) 

60. P. to B. 6th. 

61. K. takes P. (ch.) 

62. P. to B. 7th. 

63. P.toKt. 6th. 

64. P. to Kt. 7th. 



Paulsen. 

67. E. to E. 6th (ch.) 

68. K. to Q. 4th. 

69. K. to B. 6th. 

60. E. to E. 8th.* 

61. K. takes E.t 

62. E. to K. E. sq. 

63. K. to B. 6th. 



And Black resigns. J 



* The advance of the Pawn would amount to nothing. 
f By the accompanying diagram, the reader will see that the march of the 
Pawns cannot be arrested. 

BLACK. 




i Time, ten hours. 



252 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



G-AME LXY.— IRREaULAR OPENINO. 

Sixth Game between Morphy and Paulsen. 



Paulsen. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

5. Castles. 

6. K. Kt. takes K. P. 

7. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt.J 

8. K. B. to Q. B. 4th.§ 



Morphy. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d.* 

4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

5. Castles. 

6. K. R. to K. sq.t 

7. Q. P. takes K. Kt. 

8. P. to Q. Kt. 4th.l 



* This irregular debiit amounts to the same as the Queen's Knight's Open- 
ing, which is usually played as follows : — 
1. P. to K. 4th. 



1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

This method of commencing a 



2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 
and the position is the same as in the text, 
game has, as is well known, grown into great favor, within the last few years, 
among the players of continental Europe. It has been much elaborated by 
Mr. Hampe of Vienna, from whom it has been sometimes styled the Hampe 
Opening. Lange calls it, very properly, the Vienna Game. It is treated of 
at length in the third edition (Berlin, 1858) of the Handhuch of Bilguer and 
Yon der Lasa. A briefer analysis will be found in the second volume of the 
Chess Monthly (New York, 1858). 

f Better than 6. Q. Kt. takes K. Kt., in which case White would have ad- 
vanced t. P. to Q. 4th, regaining the piece with the better position. 

\ By retreating 7. K. Kt. to Q. 3d, White might have preserved his Pawn, 
but the cramped situation of his game would have amply compensated Black 
for its loss. 

§ Indirectly protecting his King's Pawn, for suppose 

8. Kt. takes K. P. 
9. Kt. takes Kt. 9. K. R. takes Kt. 

10. K. B. takes B. P. (ch.) 
and White would keep his Pawn, since if 10. K. takes B., White would win 
the Rook by 11. Q. to K. B. 3d (ch.). 

II Black might also have played 8. Kt. to K. Kt. 5th. 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



253 





Paulsen. 




Morphy. 


9. 


K. B. to K. 2d.* 


9. 


Kt. takes K. P. 


10. 


Kt. takes Kt.t 


10. 


K. R. takes Kt. 


11. 


K. B. to B. 3d. 


11. 


K. R. to K. 3d. 


12. 


P. to Q. B. 3d4 


12. 


Q. to Q. 6th. 


13. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


13. 


K. B. to Kt. 3d.' 


14. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


14. 


Kt. P. takes P. 


15. 


Q. takes R. P. 


15. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d.§ 


16. 


Q. R. to R. 2d.|| 


16. 


Q. R. to K. sq.t 


17. 


Q. to R. 6th.** 


17. 


Q. takes K. B.tt 



* If White had now moved 

9. K. B. to Kt. 3d. I 9. Q. B. to Kt. 6th. 

10. Q. to K. sq. I 10. P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

Black would have had a decided advantage. 

t If mstead of this White had played 10. K. B. to B. 3d he would have 
lost directly. 



10 K B. to B. 3d. 

11. K. R. takes Kt. 

12. Q. to K. B. sq. (A.) 

13. Q. takes Q. 



10. Kt. takes K. B. P 

11. Q. to Q. 5th. 

12. Q. takes R. (ch.) 

13. K. R. to K. 8th (mate). 



A. 



12. K R. takes Kt. 

13. Q. takes K. R. (ch.) 

14. Q. B. to Kt. 5th. 

15. R. to K. sq. 



12. Kt. to K. 4th. 

13. K. B. takes K R. 

14. K. to R. sq. 

15. K. B. to K. 3d. 
and wins, 

X With the idea of playing 13. P. to Q. 4th; 12. P. to Q. 3d would have 
been preferable, since Black is now enabled, by his next move, to completely 
shut in White's pieces on the Queen's side. 

§ 15, K. R. to Kt. 3d promises more than it would yield. 

I Intending to proffer the exchange of Queens by 1*7. Q. to Q. B. 2d; 16. 
Q. to R. 6th, however, would here have been far more to the point, com- 
pelling the second player to exchange or retreat his Queen. 

T Threatening mate in two moves by It. Q. takes K. R. (ch.), followed by 
18. K. R to K 8th. The real object of this move, however, was to enable 
Black, if possible, to take the King's Bishop with Queen. 

** 11. Q. to Q. sq. was the proper reply to Black's sixteenth move, prevent- 
ing both the threatened mate and the sacrifice of the Queeen. 

ff The winning move; for play as White may Black must now score the 



254 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Paulsen. 

18. Kt P. takes Q. 

19. K. to E. sq. 

20. K. R. to Q. sq.* 



Morphy. 

18. K. E. to Kt. 3d (ch.) 

19. Q. B. to K. E. 6th. 

20. Q. B. to Kt. 7th (ch.) 



game. The appended" diagram represents the portion of the forces before 
Black's seventeenth move : — 










Wa 







'Wm^ 






fm i 



iSi 



1 iwj„^ ' 



ifif i 

'mm i 
i 








v//^////Wj v/z/y/y/Z'. 'T^yyyyy/^, 

mm ^1 1 







* This, or 20. Q. to Q. 3d (see A) was the only method of avoiding Black's 
threatened mate in two moves by 20. Q. B. to Kt. Vth (ch.), followed by 21. 
Q. B. takes B. P. (mate). If 



20. K. R. to Kt. sq. 

21. K. takes K. R. 

22. Q. to K. B. sq. 

A. 

20. Q. to Q. 3d. I 
Again threatening mate in two moves. 

21. Q. to Q. B. 4th (ch.) | 



20. K. R. takes K. R. (ch.) 

21. R. to K. 8th (ch.) 

22. R. takes Q. (mate). 

20. P. to K. B. 4th. 

21. K. toB. sq. (best). 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 255 



Paulsen. 

21. K to Kt. sq. 

22. K. to B. sq. 

23. K. to Kt. sq. 

24. K. to K. sq. 

25. Q. to K. B. sq.* 

26. K. E. takes Q. B. 

27. Q. R. to R. sq.t 

28. P. to Q. 4th. 



Morphy. 

21. Q. B. takes B. P. (ch.) 

22. Q. B. to Kt. 7th (ch.) 

23. Q. B. to R. 6th (ch.) 

24. K. B. takes B. P. 

25. Q. B. takes Q. 

26. Q, R. to K. 7th. 

27. K. R. to R. 3d. 

28. B. to K. 6th4 



And White resigns.§ 



aAME LXYI.— SICILIAN OPENIlSra. 

Seventh Game between Morphy and Paulsen. 



Morphy. 


Paulsen. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. p. to K. 3d. 


3. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. B. P. takes P. 


4. K. Kt. takes P. 


4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th 


5. Q. B. to K. 3d. 


5. Q. to Kt. 3d. 



If Black should play 21. K. to R. sq., White would reply with 22. Q. to K. 
B. Tth, and would win. 



22. Q. to K. B. 4th (B.) 

23. Q. to K. Kt. 8d. 
and Black must win. 



22. K. B. takes B. P. 

23. K. B. takes Q. 



B. 



22. Q. B. takes K. R. (best). 

23. Q. B. to Kt. 7th (ch.) 

24. Q. B. takes B. P. 



22. Q. to K. R. 4th. 

23. P. to K. R. 3d (best). 

24. K. to R. 2d. 
and White loses. 

* The only move. 

f In order to be able to advance the Queen's Pawn. 

if White cannot, except by the sacrifice of a piece, delay the mate longer 
than two moves. 

§ Time, four hours. A record of the time consumed was only kept through 
a portion of the game. The first player's longest move was his sixteenth, 
thirty-eight minutes. None of the second player's moves exceeded five 
minutes, except his seventeenth, on which he considered twelve minutes. 



1^6 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 



Morphy. 

Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 
K. Kt. to Q. Kt. 5th. 
Q. R. to Kt. sq. 
Q. Kt. takes Q. 
P. toK.JK:t. 3d. 
P. takes K. B. 
Kt. to B. 3d. 
Kt. takes Kt. P. 
Kt. to Q. 6th. 
K. E. to Kt. sq. 
P. to K. B. 5th. 
B. to Q. B. 4th. 
P. to K. B. 4th. 
B. P. takes P. 
Kt. takes B. 
B. takes K. P. (ch.) 
B. takes K. Kt. 
Q. to Q. 7th. 
Q. takes Kt. 
K. to B. 2d. 
K. to K. 3d.§ 



Paulsen. 

6. Q. takes Kt. P.* 

7. K. B. takes Q. B.t 

8. Q. takes Q. R. 

9. K. B. to B. 5th. 

10. P. to Q. R. 3d. 

11. P. takes K. Kt. 

12. K. Kt. to K. 2d. 

13. Castles. 

14. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

15. Q. R. takes R. P. 

16. P. to K. B. 3d. 

17. Q. R. to R. 5th. 

18. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

19. Q. P. takes P. 

20. K. Kt. takes Kt. 

21. K. to R. sq. 

22. K. R. takes B. 

23. Kt. to K. 2d.t 

24. Q. R. to R. 8th (ch.) 

25. K. R. takes B. P. (ch.) 



And Black resigns.] 



* Altogether unwise, since it must result in at least the loss of a piece, 
f If he play instead 



8. Q. R. to Kt. sq. 

9. Q. B. takes K. B. 
having a piece more, and a better position ; 



Q. to Kt. 5tli. 
Q. to R. 4th. 



or if 

7. 
8. 



K. B. 
K. B. 



to Kt. 5th. 
takes Q. Kt. 



8. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 

9. Q. B. takes K. B. 
winning the Queen. If, instead of 8. K. B. takes Q. Kt., Black attempt to 

ring out any of his pieces. White would move 9. Q. R. to Kt. sq., equally 
gaining the Queen. 

X If 23. Q. R. to R. 8th (ch.), he will lose a piece. 23. K. R. to K. Kt 
sq. would have prolonged the contest somewhat, but without affecting the 
ultimate result. 

§ Black must now submit to the loss of one of his Rooks, or allow himself 
to be mated. 

I Time, four hours and a quarter. White's longest move was his seven- 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



257 



GAME LXVII.— lEREaULAR OPENINa. 

Eighth Game between Morphy and Paulsen. 



Paulsen. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. P. to Q. 4th.* 

5. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

6. Q. to Q. 3d. 

7. K. Kt. takes K. P. 

8. Castles. 

9. Q. P. takes Q. Kt. 

10. Kt. P. takes K. B. 

11. K. B. to R. 4th. 

12. K. B. toKt. 3d. 

13. Q. B. to K. B. 4th. 

14. Q. R. to B. sq. 

15. Q. takes Q.t 

16. Q. B. takes Kt. P. 

17. K. to R. sq. 

18. R. takes Kt. 

19. Q. B. to B. 6th. 

20. P. to K. B. 3d. 

21. P. to Q. R. 3d. 

22. R. to Q. sq. 

23. R. P. takes P. 



Morphy. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

5. K. Kt. takes K. P. 

6. P. to Q. 4th. 

7. Castles. 

8. Q. Kt. takes K. Kt. 

9. K. B. takes Kt. 

10. P. to Q. B. 3d.t 

11. Q. to Q. R. 4th. 

12. Q. takes B. P. 

13. Q. B. to K. B. 4th. 

14. P. toK. Kt. 4th. 

15. Kt. takes Q. 

16. Kt. to K. 7th (ch.) 

17. Kt. takes Q. R. 

18. K. R. to K. sq. 

19. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

20. P. to Q. R. 4th. 

21. B. to K. 3d.§ 

22. P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

23. R. P. takes P. 



teenth, upon which he considered five minutes ; Black's longest was his sixth, 
upon which he considered thirty-two minutes. At his fifth move Black took 
ten minutes, upon his seventh, twenty minutes, upon his fifteenth, fourteen 
minutes, upon his sixteenth, fifteen minutes, and upon his eighteenth, 
twenty minutes. 

* We should rather prefer 4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

f Black now has not only gained the attack, but must win a Pawn imme- 
diately. 

X Giving up at least the exchange. 

§ In order to advance his Queen's Bishop's Pawn. 



258 Games in the Grand Tournament. 



Paulsen. 

24. P. to K. R. 3d. 

25. P. to Q. B. 3d.t 

26. K. B. to Q. B. 2d.t 

27. R. to Q. B. sq. 



Morphy. 

24. P. to Q. B. 4th.* 

25. Kt. P. takes P. 
26* Q. R. to R. 7th. 
27. K. R. to Q. R. sq. 



* The reader will see, from the accompanying diagram, that Black, owing 
to the strength of his Pawns on the Queen's flank, already has a virtually 
won battle. 









yyyy. ^M„ * 



<m 



m M^-i^m W///M 







ly/y///// 



»J 




^^^#^ 





*»T!8»""ii 



««^— » 











f If he venture to take the Queen's Pawn with King's Bishop he must 
)se a piece. 

X If he now capture the Queen's Pawn Black wins at once, thus : — 
26. K. B. takes Q. P. 



27. R. takes B. 

28. R. takes B. P. 
Queening the Pawn next move. 



26. B. takes K. B. 

2t. P. to B. 1th. 

28. Q. R. to R. 8th (eh.) 



Games in the Grand Tournament. 



259 



Paulsen. 

28. Q. B. to Kt. 5th. 

29. K. B. to Kt. sq. 



Morphy. 

28. Q. R. to R. 8th. 

29. P. to B. 7th.* 



And Mr. Morphy wins the First Prize.! 



RESULTS OF THE GRAND TOURNAMEIsTT. 



First Section. 



Morphy 

and 
Thompson. 

Kennicott 

and 
Raphael. 

Montgomery 

and 
Allison. 

Meek 
and 
Fuller. 

FiSKE 

and 
Maraohe. 

Lichtenhein 

and 
Stanley. 

Paulsen 

and 
Calthrop. 

Perrin 

and 
Knott. 



Games Games 
won. drawn. 

..3 



..0 



. .2 
. .3* 
..3 

. .1' 
..3 
. .2* 
..2 

..3* 
..3 



..2 
..3 

. .0' 
..3 

..2' 



Second Section. 



Morphy 

and 
Meek. 
Paulsen 

and 
Montgomery. 
Raphael 

and 
Marache 
Lichtenhein 

and 
Perrin. 






Games Games 
won. drawn. 

3 




2 




3 

2 

2 
..3 



..0 



Third Section. 

Morphy 

and 
Lichtenhein. 
Paulsen ) .... 2 

and > 1 

Raphael. ) .... 

Fourth Section. 

Lichtenhein ^ .... 3 

and > . . 

Raphael. ) .... 

Morphy ) .... 5 

and > 2 

Paulsen. 



.....a 

)....Q 

' [■■■ 



I:::;:- 



* Winning a piece by force, for if 

30. K. B. takes P. I 

31. Q. B. takes Q. R. | 
gaining the Queen's Bishop. 

f The time of this game was not noted down. 



30. Q. R. takes R. (ch.) 

31. R. to R. 8th. 



It lasted about six hours. 



CHAPTER VII. 

CHESS WITHOUT THE CHESSBOARD. 

During the continuance of the Congress, Mr. Louis Paulsen, 
the winner of the Second Prize in the Grand Tournament, 
very frequently exhibited, both in the rooms of the Congress 
and elsewhere, his remarkable faculty of playing several simul- 
taneous games of chess without sight of the boards and men. 
But more especially on two public occasions did he give, in 
the presence of crowds of wondering spectators, convincing 
proofs of his powers in this peculiar and uncommon art. On 
the evenings of October 10th and 12th he conducted four 
blindfold games at the same time, winning two, drawing one, 
and losing the fourth ; and again on the evenings of the 21st 
and 2 2d of the same month he contended in a similar manner 
against five players, winning four games and drawing the fifth. 
It is true that these feats have been, during the time that has 
elapsed since the days of the chess gathering of 1857, greatly 
excelled both by Mr. Paulsen himself in Chicago, Pittsburg, 
and other places, and by Mr. Morphy at New Orleans, Bir- 
mingham, and Paris. But the interest which they aroused at 
the time was so great, and they formed so important a feature 
of the Congress, that it has been thought advisable to preserve 
some specimens of these contests. All of the games played 
upon the second occasion are therefore given below, together 
with two between Mr. Paulsen and Mr. Morphy, in w^hich 
neither of the combatants made use of the chessboard. Mr. 
Paulsen's opponents on the evenings of October 21st and 
22d were 



Chess without the Chessboard. 



261 



First Board . 
Second Board 
Third Board . 
Fourth Board 
Fifth Board . 



Mr. S. Heilbuth of New York. 
Dr. A. C. Hawes of Providence. 
Mr. R. J. Dodge of New York. 
Mr. C. Oscanyan of New York. 
Mr. T. Frere of Brooklyn. 



GAME I.— SCOTCH GAMBIT. 
Between Paulsen and Heilbuth.* 



Paulsen. 


Heilbuth. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. P. to Q. 4th. 


4. K. Kt. takes K. P. 


4. Q. Kt. takes K. Kt, 


5. Q. P. takes Q, Kt. 


5. P. to Q. 5th. 


6. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


6. Q. B. to K. 3d. 


7. K. B. takes Q. B. 


7. B. P. takes K. B. 


8. Castles. 


8. Q. to Q. 2d. 


9. P. to K. B. 4th. 


9. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


10. P. to K. B. 5th. 


10. Castles. 


11. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


11. K. P. takes P. 


12. B. takes K. R. 


12. K. takes B. 


13. K. P. takes P. 


13. Kt. P. takes P. 


14. P. to K. 6th. 


14. Q. to Q. 3d. 


15. Kt. to R. 3d. 


15. B. to Kt. 2d. 


16. Q. to K. B. 3d. 


16. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


17. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


17. Kt. to K. 2d. 


18. Kt. to B. 2d. 


18. K. to B. 2d. 


19. Kt. takes P. 


19. B. takes Kt. (ch.) 


20. B. P. takes B. 


20. Q. takes K. P. 


21. Q. to B. 4th (ch.) 


21. Q. to Q. 3d. 


22. Q. R. to K. sq. 


22. Q. takes Q. 


23. K. R. takes Q. 


23. K. to Q. 3d. 


24. K. R. to B. 3d. 


24. R. to K. B. sq. 


25. K. R. to Kt. 3d. 


25. R. to B. 2d. 



* This was played at the first board. Mr. Paulsen had the first move at 
the first, second, and fourth boards. 



262 



Chess without the Chessboard. 





Paulsen. 


Heilbuth. 


26. 


P. to Q. E. 4th. 


26. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


27. 


p. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


27. K. to Q. 4th. 


28. 


K. K. to K. 3d. 


28. Kt. to K. Kt. 3d 


29. 


K. K. to Q. B. 3d. 


29. P. to K. B. 5th. 


30. 


Q. E. to Q. sq. 


30. Kt. to E. 5th. 


31. 


Q. E. to K. B. sq. 


31. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 


32. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


32. E. to Kt. 2d. 


33. 


K. to E. sq. 


33. B. P. takes P. 


34. 


E. P. takes P. 


34. Kt. to K. 2d. 


35. 


Q. E. to B. 4th. 


35. P. to K. E. 4th. 


36. 


Q. E. to E. 4th. 


36. Kt. to K. B. 4th. 


37. 


Q. E. takes P 


37. K. takes Q. P. 


38. 


Q. E. takes Kt. 


38. K. takes K. E. 


39. 


P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


39. B. P. takes P. 


40. 


E. P. takes P. 


40. E. takes Kt. P. 


41. 


E. to K. B. 7th. 


41. K. to Kt. 5th. 


42. 


E. takes E. P. 


42. K. takes P. 


43. 


K. to E. 2d. 


43. E. to Kt. 2d (I). 




AndWh 


ite wins. 



GAME II.~SICILIAN OPENING-. 
Between Paulsen and Hawes. 



Paulsen. 


Hawes. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. P. to K. 3d. 


3. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. B. P. takes P. 


4. K. Kt. takes P. 


4. K. B. to Q. B. 4th 


5. Q. B. to K. 3d. 


5. Q. to Kt. 3d. 


6. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


6. K. Kt. to K. 2d. 


7. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


7. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


8. K. B. to K. 2d. 


8. Castles. 


9. Castles. 


9. P. to Q. 4th. 


10. K. P. takes P. 


10. K. Kt. takes P. 


11. Q. to Q. 2d. 


11. K. Kt. takes Q. B. 


12. B. P. takes K. Kt. 


12. P. to K. 4th. 



Chess without the Chessboard. 



263 





Paulsen. 




Hawes. 


13. 


K. Kt. to Q. B. 2d. 


13. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


14. 


Q. Kt. to R. 3d. 


14. 


B. to K. 3d. 


15. 


Q. Kt. to B. 4th. 


15. 


Q. to R. 2d. 


16. 


Q. K. to K. sq. 


16. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


17. 


Q. to Q. B. sq. 


17. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


18. 


K. to R. sq. 


18. 


Kt. to K. 2d. 


19. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


19. 


R. P. takes P. 


20. 


B. P. takes P. 


20. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


21. 


Kt. takes B. 


21. 


Q. R. takes Kt. 


22. 


P. to Q. R. 3d. 


22. 


Kt. to K. B. 4th. 


23. 


B. to K. B. 3d. 


23. 


K. R. to Q. B. sq. 


24. 


Q. to Q. Kt. 2d. 


24. 


Q. R. to Q. 7th. 


25. 


Q. R. to K. 2d. 


25. 


Q. R. takes Kt. 


26. 


Q. R. takes Q. R. 


26. 


Kt. takes P. 


27. 


R. takes R. (ch.) 


27. 


B. takes R. 


28. 


Q. to Q. Kt. 3d (ch.) 


28. 


K. to K. R. sq. 


29. 


R. to Q. B. sq. 


29. 


Q. to Q. Kt. sq. 


30. 


Q. takes Kt. 


30. 


B. to K. 3d. 


31. 


Q. to Q. Kt. 6th. 








And Blac 


k resigns. 



GAME IIL—CENTRE COUNTER GAMBIT IN THE KING'S 
KNIGHT'S OPENING. 

Between Paulsen and Dodge. 



Dodgo 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. P. to Q. 3d. 

4. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

5. K. B. takes P. 

6. K. Kt. to K. 4th. 

7. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

8. Castles. 

9. P. to K. R. 3d. 
10. Q. B. to K. 3d. 



Paulsen. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 

3. Q. P. takes P. 

4. K. P. takes P. 

5. P. to K. R. 3d. 

6. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

7. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

8. Castles. 

9. Q. B. to K. 3d. 
10. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 



264 



Chess without the Chessboard. 





Dodge. 


Paulsen. 


11. 


K. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 


11. Q. Kt. to K. 2d. 


12. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


12. P. to K. 5th. 


13. 


Q. Kt. takes P. 


13. Kt. takes Kt. 


14. 


Kt. takes Kt. 


14. P. to K. B. 4th. 


15. 


Kt. takes B. 


15. Q. takes Kt. 


16. 


Q. E. to K. sq. 


16. Kt. to Q. 4th. 


17. 


Q. B. to B. 5th. 


17. Q. takes B. 


18. 


Q. R. takes B. 


18. Kt. toKt. 5th. 


19. 


Q. to K. 3d. 


19. Q. takes Q. 


20. 


P. takes Q. 


20. Kt. takes B. 


21. 


P. takes Kt. 


21. R. to K. B. 2d. 


22. 


K. R. to Q. sq. 


22. Q. R. to Q. sq. 


23. 


K. R. to Q. 2d. 


23. P. to K. B. 5th. 


24. 


K. to K. B. 2d. 


24. P. takes P. (ch.) 


25. 


K. takes P. 


25. K. R. to Q. 2d. 


26. 


R. to K. 4th. 


26. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


27. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


27. K. R. to Q. 3d. 


28. 


Q. R. to Q. B. 4th. 


28. Q. R. to Q. 2d. 


29. 


P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


29. K. R. to K. 3d. (ch.) 


30. 


Q. R. to K. 4th. 


30. R. takes R. (ch.) 


31. 


P. takes R. 


31. R. to K. 2d. 


32. 


R. to Q. 8th (ch.) 


32. K. to K. B. 2d. 


33. 


K. to Q. 4th. 


33. K. to K. B. 3d. 


34. 


P. to K. R. 4th. 


34. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


35. 


P. to K. R. 5th. 


35. R. to K. Kt. 2d. 


36. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


36. R. to R. 2d. 


37. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


37. K. to K. 3d. 




And the game 


3 was drawn. 



G-AME lY.— SCOTCH GAMBIT. 
Between Paulsen and Oscanyan. 



Paulsen. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 



Oscanyan. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 



Chess without the Chessboard. 



265 



Paulsen. 

3. P. to Q. 4th. 

4. Q. P. takes P. 

5. Q. takes Q. (ch.) 

6. K. B. to Q. B. 4:th. 

7. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

8. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

9. Castles (Q. K.) 

10. Q. R. to Q. 2d. 

11. K. R. to Q. sq. 

12. K. Kt. to K. sq. 

13. P. to K. B. 4th. 

14. P. takes P. 

15. K Kt. to B. 3d. 

16. P. to K. K 4th. 

17. K. B. to Q. 5th. 

18. K. B. to Q. B. 6th. 

19. Kt. P. takes B. 

20. Kt. to Q. 5th. 

21. Kt. takes Kt. 

22. Q. R. to K. Kt. 2d. 

23. K. R. to K. Kt. sq. 

24. Q. R. to Kt. 6th (ch.) 

25. K. R. to Q. sq. 

26. P. to K. R. 5th. 

27. B. to Q. 5th (ch.) 

28. K. R. to K. Kt. sq. 

29. B. to K. 6th. 

30. R. takes K. Kt. P. 

31. R. to K. B. 7th (ch.) 

32. R. to K. B. 6th. 

33. R. takes K. R. P. 

34. B. to K. B. 7th. 

35. P. takes Kt. 

36. R. takes B. (ch.) 

37. R. to K. 6th. 

38. P. takes R. 

And 



3. P. 

4. Q. 

5. K. 

6. P. 

7. K. 

8. Q. 

9. K. 

10. K. 

11. Q. 

12. P. 

13. P. 

14. P. 

15. Q. 

16. Q. 

17. Q. 

18. B. 

19. P. 

20. Q. 

21. K. 

22. K. 

23. B. 

24. K. 

25. K. 

26. B. 

27. K. 

28. P. 

29. Kt, 

30. P. 

31. K. 

32. K. 

33. R. 

34. Kt. 

35. R. 

36. K. 

37. R. 



White wins. 



Oscanyan. 
to Q. 3d. 
P. takes P. 
takes Q. 
to K. B. 3d. 
B. to Q. 3d. 
B. to Q. 2d. 
Kt. to K. 2d. 
Kt. to Q. B. sq. 
Kt. to K. 2d. 
to Q. R. 3d. 
to Q. Kt. 3d. 
takes P. 
Kt. to Kt. 3d. 
B. to K. Kt. 5th. 
R. to R. 2d. 
takes Kt. 
to K. R. 3d. 
Kt. to K. 2d. 
takes Kt. 
to K. B. 3d. 
to K. B. sq. 
to K. 2d. 
to B. 2d. 
to Q. 3d. 
to K. B. sq. 
to Q. B. 3d. 

to K. 2d. 
to Q. B. 4th. 
to K. sq. 
to Q. sq. 
to K. sq. 
;. to K. B. 4th. 
takes B. 
to Q. B. 2d. 
takes R. 



12 



266 



Chess without the Chessboard. 



aAME Y.— IREEQULAR OPENINQ. 

Between Paulsen and Frere. 



Frdre. 

1. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

2. P. to K. 3d. 

3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. P. to Q. 4th. 

6. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 

7. Q. takes K. Kt. 

8. P. to Q. R. 3d. 

9. Q. takes K. B. 

10. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

11. B. to Kt. 2d. 

12. Castles (K. R.) 

13. Q. R. to Q. sq. 

14. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

15. K. takes B. 

16. P. to K. B. 4th. 

17. Q. to Q. 3d. 

18. Q. R. to K. sq. 

19. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 

20. K. to Kt. sq. 

21. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

22. Q. R. to K. 2d. 

23. P. to Q. R. 4th. 

24. Q. R. to K. Kt. 2d. 

25. P. to K. R. 3d. 

26. Kt. P. takes P. 

27. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 

28. Kt. to K. 5th. 

29. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

30. P. takes Q. P. 

31. P. takes B. P. 

32. Q. t9 Q. Kt. 3d. 

33. Q. R. to Kt. 6th. 

34. Q. R. takes R. P. (ch.) 

35. B. P. takes R. 



Paulsen. 

1. P. to K. B. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. P. to K. 3d. 

4. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

5. K. Kt. to K. 5th. 

6. K. Kt. takes Q. B. 

7. P. to Q. 3d. 

8. K. B. takes Kt. 

9. Castles. 

10. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

11. B. to Kt. 2d. 

12. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

13. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 

14. B. takes B. 

15. Q. to K. 2d. 

16. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

17. Q. R. to Q. sq. 

18. P. to Q. 4th. 

19. Q. to Q. Kt. 2d. 

20. Kt. to K. 5th. 

21. K. R. to K. sq. 

22. P. to K. R. 3d. 

23. Q. R. to Q. Kt. sq. 

24. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 

25. P. takes Q. B. P. 

26. Q. to Q. B. 3d. 

27. Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 

28. Q. to B. 2d. 

29. B. P. takes Q..P. 

30. Kt. to K. 5th. 

31. K. P. takes P. 

32. K. to R. 2d. 

33. R. takes Kt.' 

34. Kt. P. takes R. 

35. Kt. to Q. 7th. 



Chess without the Chessboard. 



267 



FrSre. 

36. Q. to Q. 3d. 

37. K. to E. sq. 

38. Q. takes B. P. (ch.) 

39. Q. takes Kt. 

40. Q. to K. B. 6th. 

41. P. takes Q. 



Panlsen. 

36. E. to K. Kt. sq. (ch.) 

37. Kt. takes E. 

38. K. to E. sq. 

39. Q. to K. Kt. 2d. 

40. Q. takes Q. 

41. E. to K. Kt. 3d. 



And White resigns. 



GTAME YI.— lEEEQULAE OPENINa. 
Between Paulsen and Morphy.* 



Paulsen. 




Morphy. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


4. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


5. P. to Q. 4th. 


5. 


K. P. takes P. 


6. K. Kt. takes P. 


6. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


7. K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


7. 


Kt. P. takes K. Kt. 


8. K. B. to Q. E. 4th. 


8. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


9. Castles. 


9. 


Kt. to K. 2d. 


10. Q. B. to K. 3d. 


10. 


K. B. takes Q. B. 


11. B. P. takes B. 


11. 


Q. to K. E. 3d. 


12. Q. to Q. 3d. 


12. 


Kt. to K. Kt. 3d. 


13. Q. E. to K. sq. 


13. 


Kt. to K. 4th. 


14. Q. to K. 2d. 


14. 


Castles (K. E.) 


15. P. to K. E. 3d. 


15. 


K. to K. E. sq. 


16. Kt. to Q. sq. 


16. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th. 


17. Kt. to K. B. 2d. 


17. 


K. E. to K. Kt. sq. 


18. Kt. to Q. 3d. 


18. 


P. to K. Kt. 5th. 


19. Kt. takes Kt. 


19. 


P. takes Kt. 


20. P. takes P. 


20. 


B. takes P. 


21. Q. to K. B. 2d. 


21. 


K. E. to K. Kt. 3d. 



* This was played during the evening of October 10th, Mr. Paulsen con- 
ducting three other games at the same time. Both the combatants, as has 
been previously stated, played without seeing the board. 



268 



Chess without the Chessboard. 



Paulsen. Morphy. 

22. Q. takes K. B. P. 22. B. to K. 3d. 

23. Q. takes Q. B. P. 

And Black announced mate in five moves.* 



GAME YII.~-CENTRE COUNTER GAMBIT IN THE KING'S 
KNIGHT'S OPENING. 

Between Paulsen and Morphy. 



Morphy. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 



Paulsen. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 



* The following diagram represents the position at the close of the game : — 



m^m % 





'fy////////!'. ?^^^^ 










m'^mi 



^ ^».^^^»^^^^ 



^^^^/^.^..^.^^^p. 




i 







Chess without the Chessboard. 



269 



Morphy. 

3. K. p. takes P. 

4. Q. to K. 2d. 

5. P. to Q. 3d. 

6. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

7. Q. P. takes P. 

8. Q. takes K. P. 

9. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. (ch.) 

10. Q. to K. 2d. 

11. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

12. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 

13. Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

14. Castles (K. R.) 

15. K. R. to K. sq. 

16. Q. Kt. takes Q. B. 

17. Q. takes Q. Kt. 

18. B. takes B. 

19. K. R. takes Kt. (ch.) 

20. R. to K. sq. 

21. Kt. takes Q. 

22. Q. to K. Kt. 4th (ch.) 

23. Kt. to Q. 3d. 

24. Q. to K. 6th. 

25. Q. to K. 4th. 

26. Kt. to K. sq. 

27. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

28. Q. to K. 5th. 

29. Q. to Q. Kt. 8th (ch.) 

30. Q. takes Kt. P. (ch.) 

31. Q. to Kt. 8th (ch.) 

32. Q. takes R. P. (ch.) 

33. Q. to Kt. 8th (ch.) 

34. K. to Kt. 2d. 

35. P. to Q. R. 4th. 

36. Q. to Kt. 7th (ch.) 

37. Q. to Kt. 4th (ch.) 

38. P. to Q. R. 5th. 

39. P. to Q. R. 6th. 

40. Q. to Kt. 7th (ch.) 

41. Q. to Kt. 8th (ch.) 



Paulsen. 

3. P. to K. 5th. 

4. P. to K. B. 4th. 

5. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th (ch.) 

6. K. B. to K. 2d. 

7. B. P. takes P. 

8. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

9. Q. B. to Q. 2d. 

10. K. Kt. takes P. 

11. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

12. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 

13. Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

14. Q. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 

15. Q. B. takes K. Kt. 
16., Q. Kt. takes K. B. 

17. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 

18. Kt. takes B. 

19. Q. takes K. R. 

20. Q. takes R. (ch.) 

21. Castles (Q. R.) 

22. Q. R. to Q. 2d. 

23. P. to K. R. 4th. 

24. K. R. to R. 3d. 

25. K. R. to Q. 3d. 

26. K. R. to Q. 8th. 

27. K. to Q. sq. 

28. Q. R. to K. 2d. 

29. K. to Q. 2d. 

30. K. to Q. 3d. 

31. K. to Q. 2d. 

32. K. to Q. 3d. 

33. K. to Q. 2d. 

34. K. R. takes Kt. 

35. K. R. to Q. R. 8th. 

36. K. to Q. 3d. 

37. K. to Q. 2d. 

38. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

39. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

40. K. toQ.3d. 

41. K. to K. 3d. 



270 



Chess without the Chessboard. 



Morphy. 

42. P. to Q. Kt 4th. 

43. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

44. Q. to Kt. 7th. 

45. P. to K. R. 3d. 

46. R. P. takes P. 

47. Q. to B. 8th (ch.) 

48. Q. takes Kt. P. 

49. K. to B. 3d. 

50. Q. to K. Kt. 7th. (ch.) 

51. Q. to Q. B. 7th. 

52. K. to Kt. 4th. 

53. K. to Kt. 5th. 

54. P. to K. B. 4th. 

And Black 



Paulsen. 

42. P. to K. Kt. 5th. ^ 

43. K. to B. 2d. 

44. K. to B. sq. 

45. Q. R. to K. 8th. 

46. R. P. takes P. 

47. K. to K. 2d. 

48. Q. R. to K. Kt. 8th (ch.) 

49. K. R, takes Q. R. P. 

50. K. to K. 3d. 

51. Q. R. to Q. R. 8th. 

52. Q. R. to R. 5th. 

53. Q. R. to R. 7th. 

resigns.* 



* This game was played during an excursion party to High Bridge, in the 
neighborhood of New York, on the 20th of October 185t. It was one of 
two games played at once, without the use of any boards. The companion 
pariiCj unfortunately, remained unfinished and unrecorded. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE PROBLEM TOURNAY. 

Peoblem-making has been very properly denominated the 
poetry of chess. The same depth of imagination, the same 
fecundity of invention, the same quick perception of the beau- 
tiful, which characterize the poet, belong also to the chess 
strategist. The alphabet he uses is made up of the thirty-two 
pieces and pawns, the paper upon which he writes out his 
thoughts is the chessboard, and every position of the forces, 
changing with each successive move, is a stanza of more or 
less elegance. Nor is this art altogether unlike those of the 
painter and sculptor, which indeed possess so many features 
in cominon with that of the bard. An ingenious problem is, 
in its way, as worthy of praise as a fine picture or a noble 
statue. When we have arrived, after much study, at its solu- 
tion — when we have correctly caught, and fairly understood 
the spirit of the author's design — we contemplate the work of 
the chess artist with emotions of pleasure and admiration, 
similar to those with which we gaze upon the finished efibrts 
of a Corregio or a Canova. The problem department of chess, 
too, has its lyrics and epics, its German and Italian schools, 
its antiques and its modern productions. A sonnet by Words- 
worth and a song by Moore, a Beggar Boy by Murillo and 
a Flemish Inn by Rubens, a Hebe by Thorwaldsen and an 
Ariadne by Danneker, do not differ more in style and expres- 
sion than an end-game by Stamma and a problem by D'Orville. 
The acute student and true connoisseur of these chess puzzles 



272 The Problem Tournay. 

will tell us that this man was famous for three-move positions, 
that another excelled in the composition of stratagems in five 
moves, while a third was eminent for his problems in twenty 
moves and upwards, and a fourth displayed much cunning and 
skill in fabricating self-mates, those curious anomalies oAhe art. 
He will point out the fact, that one school betrays a fondness 
for multifarious and complicated variations, while an equally 
large class of strategists prefer a single and simple mate, by a 
series of forced steps, and accompanied by few or no perplex- 
ing ramifications. He will explain to as that all composers, 
previous to this century, may be styled pre-Raphaelites. Their 
tastes were simple and severe ; their themes were naturally 
and plainly elaborated ; they labored in an unexplored mine, 
Avhere the material at their command was so abundant and 
accessible that they had no need to search for intricate 
schemes, nor to deck their designs with florid ornaments. 

So zealously has this branch of chess been cultivated of late, 
and so many distinguished masters have arisen within a short 
time, that the last twenty years may, with truth, be called the 
Golden Age of problems. There is scarcely a country which 
cannot boast of one or more widely-known composers. Fully 
acknowledging the beauty and utility of the creations of these 
chess minstrels, and recognising the rapidly increasing favor 
with which they are regarded by the chess-playing public, 
the Committee of Management of the Congress determined 
upon offering the most liberal prizes ever given for specimens 
of enigmatical skill, and to throw the competition open to the 
w^hole world. Notwithstanding the unusually large amount 
of the premiums, and the wide publicity given to the affair, the 
number of competitors was not large. Five sets were sent 
from the Old World, and six from the New. Both the Com- 
mittee, and those who entered the lists, were fortunate in 
having at the head of the Examining Committee so able a 
problem critic as Mr. Eugene B. Cook of Hoboken, New Jer- 
sey, who transmitted to the President, not long after the ad- 
journment of the Congress, the following 



The Problem Tournay. 273 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PROBLEMS. 

COL. C. D. MEAD, PRESIDENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT OF THE 
NATIONAL CHESS CONGRESS. 

Sir : — At length I have the honor to lay before you a report 
relative to the Problem Tournay. 

A few days after the 1st of November, as the distance be- 
tween the places of residence of the Committee of Examina- 
tion and Award precluded the possibility of a general meeting, 
I dispatched to each member copies of the sets of problems 
entered. Such of the mottoes as indicated the country of the 
composer were translated. 

Judgment as to the relative merit of problems is greatly 
aided by a system of grading, based upon a consideration of 
their originality, beauty, and profundity. Each position being 
given its mark, by taking the average, the merit of the set can 
be estimated with greater precision. Of course a position 
which is radically faulty should be marked zero, as it is no 
problem. The fact that a set contains faulty positions should 
not exclude it from competition, but only discount the set. 
The idea of marking the problems, taking a certain number 
as a maximum, occurred to several members of the Committee, 
and this method was adopted by them in assisting their judg- 
ment. 

Much time was requisite for examining and testing the posi- 
tions, and, moreover, considerable delay was occasioned by 
the necessity of conferring by letter. Exceeding care has 
been taken in the matter, and it is hoped that no one will have 
just cause to complain of the decision. 

It is the unanimous opinion of the Committee, that the set, 
" Strive for honor ^'^'' by Rudolph Willmers of Vienna, stands 
first ; and that the set, " Three is the charm^'^'^ by Conrad 
Bayer of Vienna, holds the second place. Honorable mention 
has also been accorded to the set, " Certum pete finem^^'^ com- 
posed by Samuel Loyd of New York. 

12* 



274 The Problem Tournay. 

The following table contains the names and residences of 
the composers who participated in the Tournay, and the 
mottoes distinguishing their sets of positions : — 

Set. Composer. Eeeidence. 

1. Strive for honor ! Rudolph Willmers, Viennaj Austria. 

2. Three is the charm, .... Conrad Bayer, .... Olmiitz, " 

3. Certum pete finem, .... Samuel Loyd, Florence, N. J. 

4. Non quo, sed quomodo, . Hyacinth R. Agnel, West Point, N. Y. 

5. ^t8 ^trtfitnbixiertt, Franz della Torre, Vienna, Austria. 

6. ButWashington's a watch- 

word, such as ne'er 
Shall sink while there's 
an echo left to air, .... Charles White, . . . Sunbury, England. 

7. Quod potui perfeci, Theo. M. Brown, . . . Newark, N. J. 

8. Cedo majori ! Carl Meier, Bremen. 

9. When we cannot do as 

we wish, we must do as 

we can, John Tanner, New Orleans, La. 

10. Les trois Mousquetaires, . Edwin J. Weller, . . Boston, Mass. 

11. A. B. C, T. J. Grotjan, San Francisco, Cal. 

In the foregoing table I have endeavored, aided by the 
counsels of the other members of the Committee, to place the 
sets in the order of merit. Of course there was some dis- 
parity of opinion with regard to the precedence of some of the 
sets ; but I think the table presents in all cases the opinion 
of a majority of the Committee. 

There are faulty positions in sets 5, 6, 7, 10, and 11. TJn- 
foilunately shoals are more likely to escape the detection of 
the composer the greater the depth of the conception. 

It is to be regretted that so few of our own composers took 
part in the Tournay. The confidence reposed in us by our 
foreign chess brethren is very gratifying. 

It is necessary to abstain from comment upon the merits of 
the Prize Stratagems, lest a clue should thereby be furnished 
to the solutions : each contains a beautiful secret, which, when 
known, "needs no bush." Problem No. 3 of set "Certum 



The Problem Tournay. 275 

pete fin em" is wonderfully elaborate. No. 2 of set "Des 
Strebend werth " met with especial commendation from several 
of the Committee. There are problems in various sets which 
urge their own claims for notice. Among the Tournay Pro- 
blems are to be found some fine exemplifications of the two 
chief styles, or schools, of stratagems : the classic, in which a 
simple theme is rendered ; and the elaborate, in which a num- 
ber of themes are united or interwoven — the ramifications 
of leading and subordinate variations oftentimes rivalling in 
number the trunks, branches, limbs, and twigs of a banian- 
tree ! A published selection of the problems would form a 
valuable addition to the literature of the poetry of chess. 

Respectfully, 

Eugene B. Cook. 



rW. G-. Thomas, Esq., of Philadelphia. 

^ 1 1 IP X. XI n -xx I W. J". A. Fuller, Esq., of New York. 
On behalf of the Committee < t -o tt. i t i 

^ J. Ferguson, Esq., of Lockport. 

^ S. R. Calthrop, Esq., of Bridgeport. 



li 



Mr. Rudolph Willmees, who secured the highest prize in 
this intellectual joust, is an eminent pianist, occupying a posi- 
tion in the musical profession side by side with the celebrated 
Liszt. He was born at Copenhagen, Denmark, in the year 
1820, pursued the study of music in Germany, and since the 
year 1838 has given concerts in the leading cities of Europe. 
He was an unsuccessful competitor for the prize in the Pro- 
blem Tournament, which was originated some two years since 
by Mr. Lowenthal, the chess editor of the London M'^a, The 
winner of the second prize, Mr. Conrad Bayer, has been 
known for some years as one of the most ingenious and fertile 
problem-composers of the day. To the chess journals of Ger- 
many, England, and America, he is a frequent and valuable 
contributor, both of stratagems and literary articles. In 1857 
he took the prize in the M^a Problem Tournay. Mr. Samuel 
LoYD, who holds the third place on the Committee's list, 



276 The Problem Tournay. 

although still very young, has already gained a high reputation 
on both sides of the Atlantic for his genius in the strategic art. 
He was born in Philadelphia in the year 1841, and began to 
publish chess problems at the age of fifteen. For the last 
three years no composer has been more prolific. He gained 
in 1857 the first prize in the Chess Monthly Problem Tournay. 
Professor Agnel is the author of Chess for Winter Even- 
ings ; Mr. Feanz della Torre is one of the foremost of the 
many famous problem-makers of Germany; Mr. Charles 
White is a contributor to the British chess organs, in which 
he has published some fine specimens of his powers, and is 
about twenty years of age ; Dr. Carl Meier is the author, 
we believe, of a German work on chess, which appeared in 
1844 ; and Mr. Theodore M. Browist has distinguished him- 
self by the composition of a host of beautiful positions, and 
in the department of suicidal and conditional problems has 
few superiors. 

[Of the problems which follow, I. is a position subsequently received from 
the winner of the first prize, II. -XX. are the best of the Tournay Problems, 
the sets being arranged in accordance with the rank given them by the Com- 
mittee, XXI. is a stratagem contributed by one of the competitors, XXII. is 
a problem dedicated by the Chairman of the Committee 10 the three prize- 
bearers, and XXIII.-LIII. are selections from the most beautiful American 
compositions, kindly made and arranged by Mr. Cook, at my request. Their 
authors, Mr. Eugene B. Cook, Mr. Denis Julien, Mr. Samuel Loyd, Mr. 
Napoleon Maeache, and Mr. J. A. Potter, have, during the last few years, 
formed the foremost rank of American composers. The good will with which 
they acceded to my demand, and placed their best productions at my disposal, 
deserves my warmest thanks.] 



The Problem Tournay. 



277 



PROBLEM I. 



DEDICATED 

TO THE 

COMMITTEE OF EXAMINATION AND AWARD, 

OF THE 

AMEKICAN PKOBLEM TOURNAY. 

BY 

RUDOLPH WILLMERS, OF VIENNA. 

BLACK. 





fm 

my, ^<!y//////A 




m 4&A ^B mm. 






m ^...mm, * ill 




H 






iSl 



^^^^^p^^.^-^-^-^^ 






'mm. ^p ^p p 




White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



278 The Problem Tournay. 

PROBLEM II. 

SET 
''STRIVE FOR HONOR!'' 

BY 

EUDOLPH WILLMERS, OF YIENNA. 
No. I. 




mu 



m^^J^^A 



m 



w^ *- 



m. 



■lii 



WMB.,^ iMi:, 





^, ■ ili^ 




1^ 



WMf/ ^m Worn ^ 




^^ 'z:'....w//M 




"'mmfTu 



m -'dm. 





'M,^':zr...w/m', 




WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



279 



PROBLEM III, 

SET 
" STRIVE: FOR HONOR I " 

BY 

RUDOLPH WILLMERS, OF VIENNA. 
No. 11. 

BLACK. 



mm mm ^p 

if if 



a wm,^ fcl,^ ^^ 






ifi 



W^^i**4 








m 
m 'mm. 



m, jmrn. 




"WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



28o The Problem Tournay. 

PROBLEM IV. 

SET 
" STRIVE FOR HONOR ! " 

BY 

RUDOLPH WILLMERS, OF VIENNA. 
No. III. 






M', ,_ ^^^^ 











m k% 






"////////y/A y^y////////, oit^^^ttt^z 

■mm. '""'Si^'m 




m.-.. 















WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



281 



PROBLEM V. 

SET 
" THREE IS THE CHARMr 

BY 

CONRAD BAYER, OF OLMUTZ. 
No. I. 















yy///////'/^ 





11" Jtj^ 






WM 



7^/ V//////A 

m 



1 



WjV/ yy/////////t 






1 





^ %.^i^% 



WHITE, 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



282 



The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM VI. 

SET 
" THREE IS THE CHARMS 

BY 

CONRAD BAYER, OP OLMUTZ. 
No. II. 



-mm t^i 





P 
m mm,. 




m .. %^A 



m 




i 

m ^^ 






JM 




'mm. mm. i 









i 



%////////F^K^ ^^^ 




^ « p 

1 » mm. 






WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



283 



PROBLEM VII. 

SET 
" THREE IS THE CHARM:' 

BY 

CONRAD BAYER, OF OLMUTZ. 
No. III. 

BLACK. 



■I ^ 






W/. ^^, , 'WM^A 



m m m. 



»j 







^//////yy^, v///////^//. 



%^, 








¥im. 



i/i 




1 ^ ^^5?^^ 
'mm. m 




i 





m mi -mwA 



% ^ 





White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



284 



The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM VIIL 

SET 
" CERTUM PETE FINEM^ 

BY 

S. LOYD, OF FLORENCE, N. J. 
No. I. 



^P. WfW, ^P. An MWi 







■mmi^'-'^^. 



;^^S^^ 



y///////^.. 




i. ^H #,.i8l 



i« 





%^^ ^^^^^^ 







p PI Pi 





White to play, and mate in Three moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



285 



PROBLEM IX. 

SET 
" CERTUM PETE FINEM:' 

BY 

S. LOYD, OF FLORENCE, N.J. 

^No. 11. 



^#1 1 






MM^^y 



'•i'TTTtTtT/?/. 









m. its ■ m 



^P. feJl 




ii A il fM ft 

^^m. 'wm. 'mm. 



Ml 



WHITE, 

White to play, and mate in Four mov^« 



286 



The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM X, 

SET 
" CERTUM PETE FINEMJ' 

BY 

S. LOYD, 0¥ FLOREKOB, N.J. 
m. III. 




mm^. 




Wi v^^A ^^^ 




^^^^ 



pi i fMmm 
ill, „„., s, i #1 , „^a,^ 










WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Pive moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



287 



PROBLEM XI. 



SET 
''NON QUO, SED QUOMODOr 

BY 

H. R. AG-NEL, OF WEST POINT. 
No. I. 

BLACK. 



« 11 



^ i^ i^i„ 





■ ,,,,„cl 





ism ^M 

■ ^ 



,fsi 












.A 







White to play, and mate in Seven moves. 



288 The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XII. 

SET 
''NON QUO, SED QUOMODOr 

BY 

H. R. AaNEL, OF WEST POINT. 
JSTo. II. 
















i« «« 








■- ^i 







«« *——, 








^ V//////M 





WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 289 



PROBLEM XIII. 

SET 
''NON QUO, SED QUOMODOr 

BY 

H. R. AGNBL, OF WEST POINT. 
No. III. 





% «■- 





il*L2 



m mm 

rmm. m 




i Pi ■ ■ i fm 

■mm>. m 



151 ■ 









WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Five moves. 



13 



290 The Problem Tournay. 

PROBLEM XIV. 

SET 

"JBea Qtxthtnb mtxt\):' 

BY 

FRANZ BELLA TORRE, OP'VIENNA. 
No. L 



\ ■"- 



i 






m ^^//////A 





B^ 




^---i^^^T^'^ 








if w Pi 

v//////. ■////////■A. 07/////////. 



m .......W^3. i^J ...,...W^M 



^— :^^ 




1^^ 



^^^^i^^^ 




i 




^^^ y//^7//A 

m 



White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



291 



PROBLEM XV. 

SET 

''WtB Btxtbtnia mxt\),'' 

BY 

FRANZ DBLLA TORRE, OP VIENNA. 
No. II. 




W^^"^ "W"/^ 









V///////'//. 





y/, 4W/. v////m 



W^P^ 





m mm,,^ 




'"^'^^■^ps^m?''^^^''^*^^?? 





wmTE. 
White to play, and mate in Five moves. 



292 



The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XVI. 

SET 

" But Washington's a watchword^ such as ne*er 
Shall sinh while there's an echo left to air^ 

BY 

CHARLES WHITE, OF SUNBURY, ENGLAND 

No. L 



'm ^ i ^^^ V/^>Z' ^^^^^ 




^P^g W//^v///. 



■ 







'm. 



•^ ?%2B 



tii ^» 



^ iw i^l 

'^/'f?^?^'^/. V//////////. Kvy^TyrTZv^ 




'WM>, 'WWa 'MMi'. /x P 



ill ■ Hl^^^ 











# "^ mm^. 







WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



293 



PROBLEM XVII. 

SET 

" But Washington's a watchword^ such as n^&r 
Shall sink while there's an echo left to air,'' 

BY 

CHARLES WHITE, OF SUNBURT, ENGLAND. 

No. IL 




% ^ 











wm. 



ry//iiya s? 





1 







« ^'m 




^i^.^-"--— 



Wa . , 'WM/a W/Wa 

^ 








i 







WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



294 The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XVIII. 

SET 
" QUOD POTUI PERFEOL" 

BY 

THEO. M. BROWN, OP NEWARK, N. J 
No. I. 



m w^M ^ l^8_ 





A Mm.. 





141 i 









m ^ta 





^— "« 



m mm, 

im PI i 

-mmf '■'^mf 'mmi^^- ^ 

'Mi ^» WM WM 



White to play, and mate in Three moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 295 



PROBLEM XIX, 



SET 
" QUOD POTUI PERFECr 



THBO. M. BROWN, OF NEWARK, N. 
No. III. 



J. 




M ^m^ 




%\ 










AN ^^^MW 

VV///////?. 



K. ^•• 









l«l 



m <mwA 










WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Six moves. 



296 The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XX. 

SET 
« CEDO MAJORir 

BY 

CARL MEIER, OF BREMEN. 
No. III. 



H 










fm% m. 




m " mm. 



m 



'mm. o msm. ^ 






m ", p^j 



^- yJ^-^'^-'-'^^y^. 



^///////yy^. 



■mm. ^ -mm^. ^ -^^m^^ mm. 




m- 




'^ ^ 1 H__& 



White to play, and mate in Fifteen moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



297 



PROBLEM XXI. 



'' CURIOSUM.'' 



BY 



CARL MEIEK, OF BREMEN. 



4m " 




wm. m 



m ...M 





"m 



■ .#..iSi 




'/////"/////, 










^^ r ■ 








White to play, and mate with K. B. P. in Nine moves. 



13* 



298 The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XXII. 

INSCRIBED, 
WITH FRIENDLY REGARD, 

TO 

RUDOLPH WILLMERS, CONRAD BAYER, AND S. LOYD. 

BY 

E. B. C. 

BLACK. 



'■^mi i 



wm WM ^ ^ 

m m: 

o m 



^ 




m mm/. 







^ Hi w BmB 







i#ili 









^ ^^ 







WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Five moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



299 



PROBLEM XXIII. 



J. A. POTTER, OF SALEM, MASS. 










■ 





mm 



y/////j ^//////yW, 



m d-^Ja mm. 



'mm. ^'w^y/^ 



^ '////////z^y. 




8 d 







J mm. 




i 




m., 

m, MM, 




WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Two moves. 



.300 The Problem Tourney. 



PROBLEM XXIV. 



BY 



DENIS JULIEN, OF NEW YORK. 





"■ 




■i«^if *■ 






1^/^ « 4MA. 

i fm VMW VMM 

W'^,^,, "mMyyy,^ ^^^ '^///////ya 5^^^ 



'''//77?77f/A '-«^— V/////^j 

'm%m. m 



Wa Wm, mm% 

'mm. 'mm. ^ 





m <^^. 



WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Two moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 301 



PROBLEM XXV. 



BY 



DENIS JULIEN, OF NEW YORK. 






p-^^ y^//////A v/^6^y. y/. 

////y/////'}. „, - . „ 

WM>y. WM^y. 'WM W/ 



w PH W"^ 




% ^• 



^p ^ 





M^ mfm... 



-.^^ ^^"^^^ 



WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Three moves. 



302 The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XXVI. 



By 



S. LOYD, OP FLORENCE, N. J. 



^ mm 

^^ ^^ 




-mm. m. 








i 



^1r 









-mmi '^ -m^^- ^ 

y/, ^M mm, wm^/. 



WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Three moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



303 



PROBLEM XXVII. 



BY 



S. LOYD, OF FLORENCE, N. J. 



m 'w/m. 




*„■"' 




^^M«p«^ « Wm mm, 

'mm wm 'wm- ^ 




m 



11 



^—"1^1" 






m W/////A 






wm. 



W/,..^Mi^>, 



y,','///////,, •///,/,////,. v//////////. 

.////////A "^////////z, "^^''^^^ ^V///////A 









WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Three moves. 



3C4 The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XXVIII. 



BY 



EUGENE B. COOK, OF HOBOKBN, N. J. 



m 







'% ^^ 






1 w/mi 

//////////a /////////a ^^^. W^^/ X 

ilfi 










« — PI 






^^^ ^,,,,,,,^/////////r^,/,,^,,,^^/ * /y'Ty ry y y: ^,, 



iftl 



M^ 1 



1^^ 



;^ :^^^^ 






WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Three moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 305 



PROBLEM XXIX. 



BY 



EUGENE B. COOK, OP HOBOKEN, N.J. 



m v//////m 

'mm. wm 

m fM 
i _a m 




i mm. 



^, 






^^^ §114 



m ^^^mm. 

Va. 

i*,B H 



M 'MM , ^^ mm; 

'mm. mm^. 'm 





^ '^^'■mj^'''mmr^w''--'-'^^ 






■VTHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Three moves. 



3o6 



The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XXX. 



BY 



S. LOYD, OP FLORENCE, N.J. 





^ m 




m », * ■ * 



m ^ wm 

m 






^^ 




w, #si 










^.^/^™^p 






^ '^'^^/A 




WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



307 



PROBLEM XXXI. 



S. LOYD, OF FLORENCE, N. J. 




W/, ^ mM, 



IS Si,M,MA.S. 




^ ^^ ^yii Q 'mm. i 



^9^^^^ 



i 



;^, w//////A_ 







■ .i ill 




*-m<iiF*' 





^^g 



f^ 



"^^^/A '<^/////////. 







m :mm. 





Either party, playing first, to mate in Four moves. 



3o8 



The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XXXII. 



BY 



S. LOYD, OF FLORENCE, N. J. 



A 



''^<i^'m 




Wa 





i iSl 






w.^.wm. 



mi 

y//////M> 



V////////A 

1 „* «, * 












?%m^.''""""g5g?5m :«;■■•■ r^'f 







ail 111-"- 



1 iSl I^J ^ ^» 






WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Pour moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



309 



PROBLEM XXXIII. 



BY 



N. MARACHE, OF NEW YORK. 



ft 



W/.,, mm... 











'mm f/m ''^m m 
§ im ^y Wm^ 




^/////////, vhjT^/^y "l^////////}. 

i I^P £„„„. 

^ ^^ ;^^,_^i^i^^ ^M^ ^^ 

'^'m//J wM^^^^-m^^^^^ ^ 

_ ««"SA ■ 






WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



310 The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XXXIV. 



BY 



N. MARAOHE, OF NEW YORK. 





Wa ^« 'mmA 






^^ ^^^/A^ 





PI 



i ..*„.■„ ^ 










%^ 151 



m, mm, 







^^ #^^^ 





WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 31 1 



PROBLEM XXXV. 



BY 



EUGENE B. COOK, OF HOBOKEN, N.J. 



i mm 

ill i 



w 



m m 



,'4'/7?7/?77yA^ ,,, y//////yyv// 



m ;^^m mm,. _..„^^ 





1^" 'wm.,^^ .mmy,.^^ ..^.^^ 
m fi pal ^m 

—„. ^— »^— «^ .*" 








WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



3^2 The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XXXVI. 



BY 



EUGENE B. COOK, OF HOBOKEN, N. J 




^«^«r.^w.^ 



■■■■WM, ^ ^ 



v///^v/a'^% 



"wn:^m 



4M 






wm. 'wm. WA WMA.. 



■ 



Z'V/// Z^// 




V//////VA 



tfl 



m 1551 mm, 
■mwA m. 



m,^jMm, 




m, „,#"^ 



Vy>^^A 




m mm 
m 



m wrn^y, 




WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



The Problem Toumay. 313 



PROBLEM XXXVII. 



DENIS JULIEN, OP NEW YORK. 




'mm. '^''mm~'''mJ^^m 







\ w/m,,^ 
4^A ^^^ ^^^ '^^. 






^: '"^'Si^'-mmT^'m ^ 





WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



14 



3^4 The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XXXVIII. 



DENIS JULIEN, OF NEW YORK. 




m 'Mm. ^ mm.^ mm. 

1^^ w^/^^' .^/^^^ 

M fm, 111/ 

y//, V/^^y, wM^i #1^5.-^ 4, 

m,^ <17^^i, '^///My//,, "/y^T^/A^ 




0'y//////7A ^:^7777^>y^. 



m mmm '////////xi ^^^^, 

'mim>. p^i -mm, w^r 










''mm. W/ 
^ 





White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 315 



PROBLEM XXXIX. 



DENIS JULIEN, OF NEW YORK. 



m^ i^J 









%11^'^ 







'^^i 



ps m 




iwl 









m mm 
"1 '^ 






<//////////7. 






M .■r:T...mm, 



WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



31 6 The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XL. 



J. A. POTTER, OP SALEM, MASS. 





^ ffm. 1 



^ ^^^^^^^J^^,,„„,^^>^^ 



^ '"^'w/m 




►■ ///////// '''''^'^^'- 







<i^^/yy. 









II 








^ 



'mmi w — 






i / S , 




i isi 




WHITE. 

White to play, and mate ia Four moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 317 



PROBLEM XLI. 



BY 



J. A. POTTER, OF SALEM, MASS. 



Ilf ■ ■ 

M 




■ 1 41 ^. 



i k 














^ Si *, ^^ 









WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



3i« 



The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XLII. 



BY 



J. A. POTTER, OF SALEM, MASS. 




fmm. 




y////A'///^, 




'^'^'y//////////''^^^^'^^^'''y///' ''^^^^^/^^ 






m. 



'^TTTTa^/'., 




I ill • 





o^ '////////A/ 



i i^. 



1^ 



m 

M 'WM, 



^- ^'^^'w.y.J^^''^----'^^''-- 



iSi ^«^ 







M 




White to play, and mate in Four moves. 



J 



The Problem Tournay. 319 



PROBLEM XLIII. 



EUGENE B. OOOK, OP HOBOKBN, N. J. 



mm '^^ 

fm 



m 





'<f7?77/77/'A y/////y///// 

m 



m 'mm, 

■ i 

i ^m, . ,.« 





W, mm. mim, 
'-mm. WW4 m(<%- 



"mm. "^'m. 



m 

yy////////7/ 




m B%. 



mA fm. 



•/////////, 






'mm. ^^ ^ 



w, ^^m ^» 



WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Five moves. 



320 



The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XLIV. 



BY 



J. A. POTTER, OF SALEM, MASS. 






V/////7//?y, //////y/y/// 

'V/Z/ixy/// '^/Z/Z/Z'/// 




V/ ^'/////y//./ 



i^i i 




^^i'y^mm,,^ 




'mm. * "^^m^ 



i fm 





W/, W%M "^^ WM: i^il. 



m ^ mm 

m 










m mm 
Wa 






m 'mm. 




WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Five moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 321 

PROBLEM XLV. 

SELF-MATE. 

BY 

J. A. POTTER, OE SALEM, MASS. 



y/////////A ^ 

m 





1^^^^ -^^ 






m ^^ ^^^A 






'm " ism 




m wm. 



III 



i w w 








^ ^^ ^W 



WHITE. 

White forces Black to mate in Five moves. 



14* 



322 The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XLVI. 



BY 



DENIS JULIBN, OF NEW YORK. 








/yyy/ V////////y/. 

y///////m m 




^W^^^ 




■mm. ^— F^^"^-™ 




J #^^ 







m „mm. 



^'"md^'w '^ 





WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Five moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



3^3 



PROBLEM XLVII. 



BY 



S. LOYD, OF FLORENCE, N. J. 









^^■^^ #^^-1 







.^ ill . 

W////////. y/^^m^^Vy '/////^v/^A 








^L 




m 





1^^ w//Wa wm^/. 

im. 













WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Five moves. 



3M 



The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM XLVIII. 



BY 



N. MARACHE, OF NEW YORK. 



— *iii m I 

mm}. ^i^ ^^ ^ 




i -^- C^J M^i 









'//7/MB^^y 






^//////A 







^™.^^— ^ 





m 

M ^ 1^, 



"^^^/A •^^^^^ 






"""'"'"'"""''^ 
P ^^^ 







WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Five moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



325 



PROBLEM XLIX. 



BY 



N. MARACHE, OF NEW YORK. 



S 



ei 




m mm, M^^. 



m,^.mm,. 




//y^ f^^^r^ ^^^S^ 

^..,,,,..,,,.^^^^.. 



^ m!^M. 



■" M0m ^^^if^J ^^M 




g^ ^ft^';^ ^ 



^^ ,^ ^^ 

H ill ■ „ ill 



Iwl 

1 I, 




^— «•■ 




WHITE. 

White forces Black to mate in Five moves. 



326 



The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM L. 



N. MARACHE, OF NEW YORK. 



■ ■ ■ 




%;^ , V//77777///. *^77* y/////////A "/ITa^/T^A 

-mm. -mm. mm^^^mm. 




^ 'mm mm,.^^ mm, 







■" 'Y/////// 







i 





e ^ l^J 







P 




WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Six moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 327 



PROBLEM LI. 



BY 



BUQENE B. COOK, OF HOBOKEN, N.J 










fm 



#§i. 



'WiM. ''''WM 



m mm,^^ 

m ^^ 






fm 



*»«i*"r-"* 



w^M, ,;mwA. ..phpy^i. 

i 




mm, \,. 





''wmF^* "■ 



WHITE. 

White to play, and mate in Six moves. 



328 



The Problem Tournay. 



PROBLEM LII. 



N. MARACHE, OF NEW YORK. 



^^^^^'^^ ^iTJTjf:^ i^ixjnln/^ 



m #^^ ^^^ ^^% 




i 



1 ^M 








I 

^ ....mM. 



m wm 










m mm, 

e» m. 



m mm, ^B 



WHITE. 

White to force Black to mate in Ten moves. 



The Problem Tournay. 



329 



PROBLEM LIII. 

This position is given by Trevangadacharya Shastree, with the con- 
ditions,—" White to mate with Q. B. P. in eighty-one moves, without 
taking any of the Black Pawns, or sufifering them to be moved." It 
" ras solved in thirty-nine moves by the Rev. H. Bolton. It is now 
♦ffered by Mr. J. A. Potter, of Salem, in thirty-two moves. 



BLACK. 







m 
m 





4m m 






Wa y^A 



m^ = W/W/.^^ 



i 




BK« 













White to play, and mate with Q. B P. in thirty-two moves, with- 
out capturing any of the Black Pawns, or suffering; them to be moved 



CHAPTER IX. 

INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN CHESS. 

The history of the game of Chess in the United States can 
never be satisfactorily written until some one with ample 
leisure, and an abundant love of research, devotes himself 
zealously and patiently to the task. The existence of a Chess 
press has illuminated the last fifteen years, but previous to 
that time, or at least beyond the memory of men still living, 
there is little else than very evident darkness. The materials 
for the chronicle of our national Chess lie hidden in obscure 
corners of old newspapers, and in almost inaccessible collec- 
tions of private letters. Some future explorer will no doubt 
succeed in drawing these memorials of the past from their 
long concealment. But my occupations have allowed me to 
bestow but little time and labor upon the subject. I have, 
therefore, been enabled to collect only a few scattered inci- 
dents, which, it is hoped, will be found not altogether lacking 
in interest, and which are grouped together, without any 
attempt at a philosophical arrangement, in the present chap- 
ter. And for the best of these I am indebted, not to my 
own diligence, but to the kindness of several obliging friends. 
Among these courteously contributed articles the reader will 
meet with the narratives of several Chess events which have 
never before been so worthily chronicled. They are prophetic 
of what industry and investigation will yet do for the annals 
of the game in this western hemisphere. 



Incidents in the History of American Chess. 331 



I.— THE CHESS LIFE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

The earliest name in the annals of American Chess is that of Benja- 
min Franklin. Previous to his time the history of our game in this 
country is a Sahara of oblivion, relieved by no oasis of recorded inci- 
dent or transmitted tradition. Our sturdy forefathers of the old colonial 
days, engaged as they were in sterner contests with the severities of 
nature and the passions of savages, would have disdained so mild a 
warfare as Chess. They were too much occupied with the toils of life 
to find leisure for its amusements. It is yet possible that a dihgent 
search among the family records of the Virginian cavaliers might result 
in some trivial trace of the game at an earlier period, but with regard 
to New England, the austerities of Puritan faith and practice preclude 
any such hope or belief. Nor can we wish it otherwise. It was 
fitting that so philosophic a game should find its historic starting-point 
in so philosophic a man as Franklin. In Europe the Chess- writers of 
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, understanding the contempla- 
tive character of the sport, endeavored, by the help of uncertain tradi- 
tion, to trace back its origin to a Grecian philosopher by the name of 
Xerxes, or to an Indian sage by the name of Sissa. What was fable 
in the Old World has become fact in the New. As far as we know 
Chess in America began with Benjamin Franklin. 

In the year 1734 was played the first game of American Chess to 
which we can affix a date. At that time Franklin, then twenty-eight 
years of age, and a resident of Philadelphia, commenced the study of 
the Italian language, in company with a friend, whose name it is now 
impossible to ascertain. The following extract from his autobiography 
shows the curious way in which he made his passion for the game sub- 
servient to the purposes of study : 

I had begun in 1733 to study languages; I soon made myself so much a 
master of the French, as to be able to read the books in that language with 
ease. I then undertook the Italian. An acquaintance who was also learn- 
ing it, used often to tempt me to play at Chess with him. Finding this took 
up too much of the time I had to spare for study, I at length refused to play 
any more, unless on this condition, that the victor in every game should have 
the right to impose a task, either of parts of the grammar to be got by heart, 
or in translations, which tasks tlie vanquished was to perform upon honor 
before our next meeting. As we played pretty equally, we thus beat ono 
another into that lano^uaofe. 



33^ Incidents In the History of 

We fancy that the educational utility of Chess was never so markedly 
displayed before. Amid the multifarious systems of instruction which 
are almost weekly proposed by our zealous legislators, or ambitious 
pedagogues, why has not some bold doctor of the schools conceived 
the idea of putting the plan of Pranklin into a larger practice among 
the youth of our seminaries and academies ? With so high a name as 
that of its originator in its favor it could not but be popular and suc- 
cessful. 

After this we find no mention of Franklin's Chess until the year 
1774, when the great patriot was residing in London as the agent of 
the Colonies. The game was then made the means of a strange politi- 
cal intrigue, the story of which we have not space to recount in full. 
There seems to have been a little plot concocted by the ministry to 
entrap the American agent into a scheme for persuading his revolted 
countrymen to return to their allegiance : but Franklin was too wary 
to be taken in. His own account of the first steps of this singular at- 
tempt is as follows : 

The new Parliament was to meet the Twenty-ninth of November, 1*1^4. — 
About the beginning of that month, being at the Eoyal Society, Mr. Raper,* 
one of our members, told me there was a certain lady who had a desire of 
playing with me at Chess, fancying she could beat me, and had requested him 
to bring me to her. It was, he said, a lady with whose acquaintance he was 
sure I should be pleased, a sister of Lord Howe's,f and he hoped I would not 
refuse the challenge. I said, I had been long out of practice, but would wait 
upon the lady when he or she should think fit. He told me where her house 
was, and would have me call soon, and without further introduction, which I 
undertook to do ; but, thinking it a little awkward, I postponed it ; and on 

* Matthew Raper was born in 1^05, and died in 1178. He translated 
Grrellman's work on the Gripsies, and was the author of several papers in the 
Philosophical Transactions. From boyhood he was the intimate friend of 
John Howe, husband to the lady mentioned in the text. 

f This accomplished lady lived until 1814. Franklin says of her that he 
" had never conceived a higher opinion of the discretion and excellent under- 
standing of any woman on so short an acquaintance." Her house was the 
resort of the first personages and most distinguished men in the kingdom, and 
she was on terms of intimacy with all the royal family. Lord Mahon exclaims, 
in reference to the dispute between America and England, " But how changed 
both the scene and the temper of negotiation since Lord Howe and Doctor 
Franklin first met in London, leaning in friendly converse over Mrs. Howe's 
chessboard." 



American Chess. 333 

the Thirteenth, meeting him agaia at the feast of the Society election, being 
the day after the ParUament met, he put me in mind of my promise, and that 
I had not kept it, and would have me name a day when he said he would 
call for me, and conduct me. I named the Eriday following. He called ac- 
cordingly. I went with him, played a few games with the lady, whom I 
found of very sensible conversation and pleasing behavior, which induced 
me to agree most readily to an appointment for another meeting a few days 
afterwards ; though I had not the least apprehension that any political busi- 
ness could have any connexion with this new acquaintance. 

Franklin goes on to say that ^' on the Thursday preceding this Chess 
party, Mr. David Barclay called on me to have some discourse con- 
cerning the meeting of the merchants to petition Parliament." He at 
length accepts an invitation to meet Mr. Barclay and another gentle- 
man " to confer on American affairs." The day named for this was the 
Fourth of December. 

The time thus appointed was the evening of the day on which I was to 
have my second Chess party with the agreeable Mrs. Howe, whom I met ac- 
cordingly. After playing as long as we liked, we fell into a httle chat, partly 
on a mathematical problem,* and partly about the new Parliament, then just 
met, when she said, " And what is to be done with this dispute between 
G-reat Britain and the Colonies? I hope we are not to have a civil war.'' 
"They should kiss and be friends," said I; "what can they do better? 
Quarrelling can be of service to neither, but is ruin to both." " I have often 
said," replied she, " that I wished G-overnment would employ you to settle 
the dispute for them ; I am sure nobody could do it so well. Do not you 
think that the thing is practicable?" "Undoubtedly, madam, if the parties 
are disposed to reconciliation : for the two countries have really no clashing 
interests to differ about. It is rather a matter of punctilio, which two or three 
reasonable people might settle in half an hour. I thank you for the good 
opinion you are pleased to express of me ; but the ministers will never think 
of employing me in that good work ; they choose rather to abuse me." " Ay," 
said she, " they have behaved shamefully to you. And indeed some of them 
are now ashamed of it themselves." I looked upon this as accidental conver- 
sation, thought no more of it, and went in the evening to the appointed meet- 
ing at Dr. Fothergill's, where I found Mr. Barclay with him. 

The negotiations with these two last named gentlemen have nothing 
to do with our story. We therefore turn over until we once more 
meet the name of Mrs. Howe. 

* This problem may have been the Knight's Tour, or perhaps one of 
Stamma's positions. 



334 Incidents in the History of 

On Christmas evening, visiting Mrs. Howe, she told me as soon as I went 
in, that her brother, Lord Howe, wished to be acquainted with me ; that he 
was a very good man, and she was sure we should like each other. I said, 
I had alwaj^s heard a good character of Lord Howe, and should be proud of the 
honor of being known to him. " He is but just by," said she, '^ will you give 
me leave to send for him?" "By all means, madam, if you think proper." 
She rang for a servant, wrote a note, and Lord Howe came in a few minutes. 
After some extremely polite compliments, as to the general motives for his 
desiring an acquaintance with me, he said he had a particular one at this 
time, which was the alarming situation of our affairs with America, which, 
no one, he was persuaded, understood better than myself; that it was the 
opinion of some friends of his, that no man could do more towards reconciling 
our differences than I could, if I would undertake it : that he was sensible 
that I had been very ill treated by the ministry, but he hoped that would 
not be considered by me in the present case; that he himself, though not in 
opposition, had much disapproved of their conduct towards me. 

The conversation continued in this tone a long while. Franklin 
finally agreed to draw up propositions expressing his views of what 
might be made the basis of a satisfactory settlement of the pending 
difficulties. He used to correspond with Lord Howe through the 
medium of Mrs. Howe, and sometimes met him at her house, under 
the pretence of going there to play Chess. We give a specimen of the 
notes which used to pass between the American agent and his fair 
adversary. Franklin it appears had made her a 'New Year's gift of his 
Philosophical Writings, and on the Third of January, 1775, received 
the following note : — 

Mrs. Howe's compliments to Dr. Franklin ; she encloses him a letter she 
received last night, and returns him many thanks for his very obliging present, 
which has already given her great entertainment. If the Doctor has any 
spare time for Chess, she will be exceedingly glad to see him any morning 
this week, and as often as will be agreeable to him, and rejoices in having so 
good an excuse for asking the favor of his company. 

Tuesday. 

The obstinacy of the King and his ministers on the one hand, and 
the honest patriotism of FrankHn on the other, prevented, as all the 
world knows, any pacific arrangement of the difficulties between the 
mother country and her Colonies. In a final interview Howe expressed 
his regret that they had been so unsuccessful in their endeavors to 
reconcile the interests of the two countries; the cautious American 



American Chess. 33^ 

diplomatist replied in the same tone ; " and so," says Franklin, " taking 
my leave, and receiving his good v^ishes, ended the negotiation v^ith 
Lord Howe." 

With the exception of this remarkable scacco-political episode we 
find no mention of the Chess of Franklin during the time he spent in 
England. He was probably too busy with his colonial agency and 
otherwise to enjoy, more than occasionally, his favorite amusement. 
But during the diplomatic leisure of his Parisian life he seems to have 
pursued this pastime with considerable zest. We learn that he more 
than once visited the Cafe de la Eegence, and in all probability had 
the pleasure of seeing there the great sovereign of the Chessmen, the 
renowned Philidor. Here, too, in 1780, he met Mr. Jones, afterwards 
Sir William Jones, whose extraordinary fondness for the game is well 
known, and whose Caissa is the most successful effort of the English 
Chess muse. In a letter, dated in October of this same year, and 
addressed to Miss G-eorgiana Shipley, daughter of the Bishop of St. 
Asaph, and subsequently sister-in-law to Sir William Jones, Franklin 
says — 

Mr. Jones tells me he shall have a pleasure in being the bearer of my letter, 
of which I make no doubt. I learn from him, that to your drawing and 
music, and painting, and poetry, and Latin, you have added a proficiency in 
Chess ; so that you are, as the French say, remplie de talens. 

It thus appears that these famous friends of Chess, in their brief in- 
tercourse with each other, did not neglect to compare notes on the 
game, and perhaps engaged in actual combat over the board. It is a 
pleasant thing to think of, this Chess converse between those two men, 
each so remarkable in his peculiar way — one of them the author of the 
most agreeable essay on the morals of the sport, and the other the first 
bard in all our English tongue, who sang in numbers worthy of the 
theme — 

Of armies on the chequer'd field arrayed, 
And guiltless war in pleasing form displayed. 

In Paris Frankhn used to play frequently with a certain Madame 
de Brillon, who resided at no great distance from his dwelling at Passy, 
and in whose family, as he himself tells us, he spent many dehghtful 
hours. Tradition says that the lady was wont to get the better of the 
philosopher in these mental encounters. A pleasant allusion to their 
play occurs in his works in the amusing piece, entitled, Dialogue between 
Franklin and the Gout, written the Twenty-second of October, 1780. 



336 Incidents in the History of 

But what is your practice after dinner ? Walking in the beau: if ul gardens 
of those friends, with wliom you have dined, would be the choice of a man 
of sense ; j^ours is to be fixed down to Chess, where you are found engaged 
for two or three hours. This is your perpetual recreation, which is the least 
eligible of any for a sedentary man, because, in accelerating the motion of the 
fluids, the rigid attention it requires helps to retard the circulation and ob- 
struct internal secretions. Wrapped in the speculations of this wretched game, 

you destroy your constitution If it was in some "nook or alley in 

Paris, deprived of walks, that you played a while at Cliess after dinner, tliis 
might be excusable ; but the same taste prevails with you in Passy, Auteuil, 
Montmartre, or Sano}^, places where there are the finest gardens and walks, 
a pure air, beautiful women, and most agreeable and instructive conversation; 
all which you might enjoy by frequenting the walks. But these are rejected 

for this abominable game of Chess You know Mr. Brillon's gardens, 

and what fine walks they contain During the summer you went 

there at six o'clock. You found the charming lady, with her lovely children 
and friends, eager to walk with you, imd entertain you with their agreeable 
conversation ; and what has been your choice ? Why, to sit on the terrace, 
satisfying yourself with the fine prospect, and passing your eyes over the 
beauties of the garden below, without taking one step to descend and walk 
about in them. On the contrary, you call for tea and the chessboard; and 
lo ! you are occupied in your seat till nine o'clock, and that besides two 
hours' play after dinner. 

In the year 1783, Wolfgang von Kempelen, the ingenious inventor 
of the far-famed Automaton Chess- Player, arrived in Paris. He brought 
letters from Vienna to Dr. Franklin. M. Yalltravers wrote to him as 
follows : 

The occasion of this letter is furnished me by a very ingenious gentleman, 
M. Kempel, Counsellor of his Imperial Majesty's Finances for the Kingdom of 
Hungary, who, on a furlough obtained for two years, is ready to set out for 
Paris, Brussels, and England, attended by his whole family, his lady, two 
sons, and two daughters ; not only to satisty his own curiosity, but also in a 
great measure that of the public. Endowed with a pecuhar taste and genius 
for mechanical inventions and improvements, for which he sees no manner of 
encouragement in these parts, he means to impart several of his most import- 
ant discoveries and experiments wherever they shall be best received and 
rewarded. As an amusing specimen of his skill in mechanics, and as a means 
at the same time of supporting his travelling charges, he intends to exhibit 
the figure of a Turk playing at Chess with any player ; and answering, by 
pointing at the letters of an alphabet, any questions made to him. I saw him 
play twice without discovering his intelligent director anywhere in or about 



American Chess. 337 

him. If there were nothing but the organization of his arm, hand, and 
fingers, besides the motions of his head, that alone would entitle him to no 
small admiration. 

Besides his Chess-Player, M. Kempel has amused liimself with forming the 
figure of a child, uttering the first articulate sounds of elocution. Of these I 
have heard it pronounce distinctly upwards of thirty words and phrases. 
There remain but five or six letters of the alphabet, the expression of which 
he intends to complete at Paris. 

Vienna, December 24cth, 1782. 

The American sage, too, it seems had his bout v^ith that memorable 
Mussulman who penetrated, a conqueror, into regions whither neither 
Abderahman nor Mahomet the Second had ever dreamed of carrying 
the crescent flag. No record or tradition has handed down to us the 
result of the encounter. But, alas for Christian courage and American 
prowess, we very much fear that the pagan Moslem triumphed, and 
thus added the subjugator of Hghtning to his long list of conquests. 
In connexion with this matter the following remark by Franklin's 
grandson may be of interest : 

Chess was a favorite amusement with Dr. Franklin, and one of his best 
papers is written on that subject. He was pleased with the performance of 
the Automaton. In a short letter after his arrival in Paris, M. Kempel said 
to him : " If I have not, immediately on my return from Versailles, renewed 
my request, that you will be present at a representation of ray Automaton 
Chess-Player, it was only to gain a few days, in which I might make some 
progress in another very interesting machine, upon which I have been em- 
ployed, and which I wish you to see at the same time." This machine was 
probably the speaking figure mentioned by Mr. Valltravers. The inventors 
name occurs with a various orthography, as Kempelen, Keniple, Kempl, but 
his autograph is Kempel. 

All Chess readers have stowed away in their memories the name of 
Hans, Count von Bruhl, for many years the Representative of Saxony 
at the Court of London, a frequent adversary of Philidor, and one of 
the most ardent admirers of our game among the last century's dis- 
ciples of Caissa. FrankHn gave the owner of the Automaton an intro- 
ductory epistle to the Count. Franklin's letter has been lost, but 
Bruhl's pleasant reply is still preserved : 

Sir: — I was very much flattered with the letter I had the pleasure to re- 
ceive from your Excellency by means of the ingenious M. de KempeFs arrival 
in this country. The favorable opinion you entertain of his talents is alone 

15 



338 Incidents in the History of 

sufficient to convince me of their extent and usefulness. I cannot find words 
to express the gratitude I feel for the honor of your remembrance. I shall, 
therefore, only beg leave to assure you, that it will be the pride of my life to 
have been noticed by one of the most distinguished characters of the age, and 
I shall endeavor, upon all occasions, to contribute my mite of admiration to 
the universal applause v^hich your eminent qualities, as a philosopher and 
politician, are so v^ell entitled to. I have the honor to be, with great re- 
spect, 

Yours, etc., 

The Count de Bruhl. 

Twiss, in the first volume of his pleasant collection of Chess Anecdotes 
(p. 190), states that ^' Dr. Franklin, and the late Sir John Pringle, used 
frequently to play at Chess together ; and towards the end of the game 
the physician [Pringle] discovered, that the velocity of his own, as 
well as his adversary's pulse was considerably increased." In the 
Pdlamede it is said that Franklin, while in Paris, used to encounter a 
lady, Madame de Brion [Brillon ?], who was able to give him odds. But 
no authority is given for this assertion. 

Such are all the details which time has spared us of the Chess life of 
Benjamin Franklin. Few and scattered as they are, they are still suffi- 
cient to do honor alike to the man and the game. That a person who 
embodied and represented better than any other the vaunted common 
sense of Americans, and the extreme utilitarianism of these later gene- 
rations, should have loved, honored, and practised Chess, affords one 
of the strongest external arguments in favor of its general use. These 
unconnected incidents, moreover, seem to us indicative of many more 
still unrecorded. Franklin lived in an age of great Chess activity, and 
passed many years of his existence in the very centre of that activity. 
The splendid career of Philidor in England and France, the large 
number of fine players created by his book, his example, and his prac- 
tice in the capitals of both those countries, the analytical labors of the 
Modenese school in Italy, the influence of Stein in Holland, and the 
appearance of the Automaton Chess-Player, all contributed to draw 
the attention of the public to our intellectual sport, and form in fact 
the beginning and first developement of that popularization of the game 
which has been going on in Europe, with increasing effect and extent, 
ever since. We know that Franklin was personally acquainted with 
Bruhl, Maseres, Kempel, and Sir William Jones, and that he frequented 
the Cafe de la Eegence. The method of his introduction to Mrs. 
Howe shows that his love of Chess was a well known fact in London. 



American Chess. 339 

From all these circumstances we are warranted in supposing, that be- 
hind the scanty written incidents of his Chess hfe, there must He a 
mass of interesting matter still unknown, and perhaps lost to us for ever. 
We have not even any reliable information of his degree of skill as a 
player. Many are fond of citing him with Leibnitz, Eousseau, and 
Euler, as persons gifted with splendid talents and acute intellects, who 
tried in vain to become adepts at the game. This manner of speech 
arises in a great measure from the pleasure which men take in uttering 
or listening to paradoxes. It is certain that only the dimmest and most 
untrustworthy tradition supports their opinion. Arguing from his men- 
tal characteristics — always, as we are aware, a very doubtful method 
of procedure in Chess — and from tlie amount of his play, we should be 
inclined to place Franklin, not in the first rank indeed, but among the 
best of the second class. His cautious, circumspect, calculating mind 
should have made him a good defensive player. 

But it is in his agreeable essay on the Moi'-als of Chess that Franklin 
has left the most enduring monument of his love for the game. Its 
graceful style, its admirable exposition of the practical utility of Chess, 
and its well-conceived maxims of advice are apparent to every one who 
reads it. "The game of Chess," he asserts, "is not merely an idle 
amusement ; several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the 
course of human life, are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as 
to become habits ready on all occasions; for life is a kind of Chess." 
He then proceeds to show that by playing at Chess we may learn 
"foresight, circumspection, caution, and the habit of not being dis- 
couraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs, the 
habit of hoping for a favorable chance, and that of persevering in the 
search of resources." But the chief part of the essay is devoted to 
some judicious and carefully-weighed rules for the guidance of the 
player. He especially enjoins courtesy towards an opponent, and urges 
us to use no triumphing or insulting expressions when we have gained 
a victory, and says that by " general civility (so opposite to the un- 
fairness before forbidden) you may happen indeed to lose the game ; 
but you will win what is better, his esteem, his respect, and his affec- 
tion, together with the silent approbation and the good will of the 
spectators." In truth, all who love the ancient pastime of which we 
treat, will be for ever grateful to Benjamin Franklin for sanctioning its 
practice, not only by his influential example, but with his vigorous and 
powerful pen. 



340 Incidents in the History of 



II.— LEWIS ROU. 

Since the preceding sketch was written, a scanty ray of Hght has 
been thrown upon the story of American Chess in the eighteenth 
century, by the discovery of a manuscript work written in ^ew York 
in the year 1734. Its author, the Reverend Lewis Rou,* was the pas- 
tor of the French Protestant church in that city. He was born in 
Holland, and appears to have come to the American colonies about 
1710, and was immediately called to the pulpit by the Huguenots of 
New York. The historians of the province do not agree with regard 
to his character. Smith styles him '' a man of learning, but proud, 
pleasurable, and passionate." But he admits, that ^' for a long time he 
commanded the whole congregation by the superiority of his talents 
for the pulpit." Other writers, however, commend his erudition, his 
humanity, and his piety. Several successive Grovernors were pleased to 
regard him as a familiar friend, and his high literary attainments caused 
him to be looked upon as one of the leading members of New York 
society. In 1724 he had a difficulty with his adjunct, Molinaars, which 
led to a temporary division in the church. Both parties, in the absence 
of any French synod, appealed to the highest civil authority in the 
land, and Grovernor Burnet, a warm friend and admirer of Rou, referred 
the matter to his council. Ron's defence, which is still extant, is a 
well written and forcible document. The affair was at length amicably 
adjusted, and Rou remained the chief head of the church until 1754. 
I have not been able to ascertain the precise date of his death, but 
there is reason to believe that it took place in the year just named. His 
life must have extended to a good old age, for, at that time, his ministry 
had lasted forty-four years. He lived long enough to see the begin- 
ning of the glorious career of his brother-cliessplayer, the Pennsyl- 
vania printer, for in 1753 Franklin was appointed Postmaster-G-eneral. 

On the Fifteenth of September, 1733, a paper, entitled. An Essay on 
Chess, appeared in The Craftsman, a Tory journal published in London, 
and edited by Lord Bolingbroke and other prominent opponents of the 
house of Brunswick. It was, in reality, a sort of scacco-political alle- 
gory, in which the game was only used as a mask to cover some 
assertions so bold that the Tory writers dared not utter them undis- 
guisedly. John, Lord Hervey, a man of versatile talent, and a faithful 

* Very probably his name in French was Louis Roux. It is so spelt in 
some documents of the last century.i 



American Chess. 341 



friend to the Court, replied to the Essay in the same strain, and pub- 
lished his answer in the form of a pamphlet, bearing the following 
title : — Letter to the Craftsman on the Game of Chess^ occasioned hy his 
Paper of the 16th of this month. It was dated from Slaughter's Coffee- 
housej Sept. 21, 1733, and contained thirty pages. Slaughter's Coffee- 
house was then, and long continued to be, the leading resort of Lon- 
don Chess-players.* There, at different times, Cunningham, the Earls 
of Sunderland and G-odolphin, Sir Abraham Janssen,t Bertin, Gargyll, 
Black, Cowper, and Salvador, might be seen intent upon their Chess 
battles. There, less than a score of years after the time of which we 
treat, Phihdor and Stamma played their great match. Lord Hervey's 
pamphlet was probably widely circulated by the Grovernment and its 
supporters, and a copy was sent to William Cosby, Governor of New 
York. He showed it to Eou, and requested him to write out some 
critical remarks upon the Chess portion of the Letter. With this re- 
quest Eou agreed to comply, and the result was the work which we 
are about to describe. From the expressed wish of the Grovernor, we 
can gather that Eou must have possessed the reputation, among his 
friends at least, of being a lover of Chess, and a good player. And in 
this opinion we are fully confirmed by the work itself His language 
throughout is that of one thoroughly acquainted, not only with the 
game, but with its literature, and with what was then known of its 
history. He uses the technical terms with exact precision ; he owns 
two editions of Yida ; he quotes both the French and English transla- 
tions of G-reco ; he gives Chess terms in the Persian and Hebrew ; and 
he speaks in disparaging terms of the players which he had encountered 
on this side of the ocean. In short, we may very fairly conclude, even 
from the shght evidence which we possess, that he was the foremost 
practitioner of his time in our country. And slight as is the informa- 
tion which he gives us concerning the state of the game in America, 
the discovery of his treatise must be regarded as an event of great 
interest. 

* This coffee-house, sometimes called Old Slaughter's^ to distinguish it from 
a rival establishment which assumed the same name, was situated in St. 
Martin's Lane, and was founded in 1692. For more than half a century 
it continued to be the favorite resort of the Chess-players of the British metro- 
polis. It was also greatly frequented by artists, such as Wilkift and Roubillac. 

f Sir Abraham Janssen, who died in 1^65, was considered by Philidor to 
be the greatest English practitioner of his time. The famous Frenchman 
could only give him the small odds of the Pawn for the move. 



34^ Incidents in the History of 

The work of Rou is entitled — 

CRITICAL REMARKS UPON THE LETTER 

TO THE CRAFTSMAN ON THE GAME OF CHESS, 

OCCASIONED BY HIS PAPER OF THE ISTH OF SEPT., 1 733, 

AND DATED FROM SLAUGHTER'S COFFEE-HOUSE, SEPT., 21. 

It is a very closely written manuscript of twenty-four pages, of a 
quarto size, and from its general appearance, appears to have been pre- 
pared for the press, but for some reason or other was never printed. 
It is divided into seventeen brief chapters or paragraphs. It is dedi- 
cated to Grovernor Cosby thus : 

To HIS Excellency, 

William Cosby, Esq., Captain-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over 
the Provinces of New York and New Jersey, and the Territories thereon 
depending, in America, Yice-Admiral of the same, and Colonel in his 
Majesty's Army. 

May it please your Excellency, 

To prefix a large Dedication to a Small piece of work would be an orna- 
ment unfitting and Dot proportionable. Therefore I won't trouble Your 
Excellency with a long Preliminary Discourse upon the contents of this 
writing, which I humbly lay before you in hope and assurance, or perhaps 
presumption that you'll be pleased to accept it gracefully. I shall content 
mj^ Self to say, that as it is Your Excellency that has gratified me with the 
first sight and communication of an ingenious Letter to the Craftsman on the 
Game of Chess^ printed in London^ last year, I have thought I could offer to 
no body better than to Your Excellency Some Critical BemarJcs which I have 
made both upon that Letter and the Craftsman's Paper, treating in his satyri- 
cal way of the same subject. 

But I have been the more induced and engaged to this since Your Excel- 
lency did me the honour of asking my opinion about the same Letter, and 
entreated me to set in writing what Observations I had made upon the seve- 
ral mistakes, errors, or Blunders about the Science of Chess committed by 
the Author himself, who so severely criticized upon the Craftsman, and 
shewed his ignorance upon the matter. 

This I liave done at last, with some sloio Festination, in order that Your 
Excellency might be truly and rightly informed of the buttom of the matter 
in dispute, and know precisely what judgement was to be made of these late 
productions, and what esteem or praises ought to be paid to then' Authors. 



American Chess. 343 

If in this undertaking I am so happy as to please Your Excellency, if you 
find in these Remarks upon the Letter mentioned, and upon The Craftsman 
to which it is directed, something of curious litter ature about Chess^ or some- 
thing agreeable and entertaining, or interesting, I shall rejoyce to have 
obtained what I intended onl}^ If by misfortune Your Excellency don't like 
them at all, I shall be sorry to have attempted in vain to procure You some 
diversion ; but notwithstanding this ill success of my labour, I shall comfort 
myself with the good intention I have had, and with the good opinion that 
every Author has of his own products, if they were ever so trifling. 
I have the honor to be, with a profound Regard, 
Your Excellency's 

Most humble and 

most obedient Servant, 
New York, y© 13th, Lewis Rou. 

of Decemb. 1734. 

On the last page we find the date '^y^ Xlth December, 1734." The 
book is written with a large display of learning, and shows, especially, 
an intimate familiarity with the classics. The following motto, from 
Phaedrus, is added below the dedication : 

Librum exaravi, 

Honori et meritis dedicans ilium tuis : 
Quem si leges Isetabor sin autem minus 
Habebant certe quo se oblectent posteri. 

Phaedr. 1. 3. Prol. 

Horace is frequently cited, and he quotes from the French poets 
Marot and Regnier. As a specimen of the style, I copy the whole of 
the ninth paragraph. " Page 22, 23," at the beginning of the extract, 
refers to the Hervey pamphlet, and the italicised sentences and phrases 
are those used by Hervey, and which our author is criticising. 

Page 22, 23. — I had almost pass'd by what the author says here about the 
Check-mate given in two or three moves at the beginning of a Game, luhen the 
King seems in full prosperity Sec, that ivhenever it is attempted, the least step of 
the Knight is a full Guard against any surprise of this kind. I suppose he 
means here the Schollars-mate, or what we call among the French the Shep- 
herds-mate, TEschec et mat du Berger ; but if it is so, I say that the least step of 
the Knight will not always he a full Guard against any such surprise. For if 
we suppose the second to be attempted, I mean the Shepherds-mate, and you 
move to prevent it, your King's Knight to his Rook's Bd house, which I take, 
and may take, for the least step of the Knight in this case, this will hinder it 
for a moment — but when your Adversary comes immediately afterwards to 



344 Incidents in the History of 

move his Queen's Pawn, in order to open the way to her Bishop against that 
Knight, if you are not again upon your guard, you might either lose the 
Knight for nothing, or be check-mated again. And so the least step of the 
Knight (which was that motion spoken of) will not have been a full guard 
against the Plot intended. As for the Schollars-mate, if you suppose ic to be 
attempted, it is precisely two moves of your two Knights that will make it 
succeed, chiefly if you move the King's Knight to his Bishop's 3d house, 
the contrary Queen being placed at your Rook's 4th house. And if you 
bring the Knight at y^ Rook's 3d house, the same may be said that was said 
upon the former. How shall then the least step of the Knight he a full Guard 
against surprises of this kind. 

Ecu states in his defence against the charges made by some mem- 
bers of his church, that he was a naturalised Englishman, and he takes 
occasion in the present w^ork to air his loyalty by calhng the Pretender 
" no King at all, being but a bug-bear, an image of a King v^^ho has no 
Kingdom, no troops and no army to defend his party, not one foot of 
ground in his pretended Realm," etc. He speaks in one place of the 
Fool's mate. Comparing the Knight with the Bishop, he says : — ^' Nay, 
we may say, that for this very same reason, the Knight is, in some 
manner, a more valuable piece than the Bishop, because by his v^ay of 
moving continually from the White to the Black and from the Black 
to the White, he may go all over the Board, and act every way, where 
a single Bishop is confined to the half of the Board, and cannot act 
upon the houses of his contrary colour." In the eighth paragraph he 
has occasion to describe a stale-mate, and he closes by remarking that 
" he can't play, and the game is out, lost in England for those who 
attack and have the best of the game, but equal in other countries and 
all over the w^orld." With an outburst of enthusiasm in the tenth 
paragraph, he exclaims : — " It is pity the people should be deceived 
about the Rules or vray of playing at this noble game by such imper- 
fect wrritings as these two Letters [i.e. the Craftsman's and Lord Her- 
vey's] are, chiefly that of the Craftsman. But those that want to be 
acquainted with the true nature of the Came, or with the rules and 
laws of it, must read Vidd's Poem, and particularly the Advertisement 
prefixed to the French translation of the famous Italian's Book upon 
Chess, I mean that of Gioachino Greco j commonly call'd the Calahresse ; 
or even he may consult the Instruction in EngHsh about Chess-Play^ 
that is at the head of the EngHsh translation of the same book, printed 
in London A°. 1656. These are full instructions about Chess and about 
the manner of playing it written by masters." He dislikes the allego- 



American Chess. 345 

rical character given to the Knight, and deems it ^' entirely false and 
absurd, for he doth no more act by fraud or surprise than any other 
piece on the Board." Pursuing in another place his former compari- 
son of the Knight and Bishop, he says : — " It is also very observable 
that tv70 Bishops with their King at the end of a game, or even one 
Bishop with a Knight can check-mate the contrary King, which two 
Knights will never do with their King, and which plainly shewes the 
Bishops to be more valuable pieces than the Knights, at least in this 
respect, and more serviceable at the conclusion of the game." He 
boasts of the catholic character of the sport, saying " this is not a game 
particular to the English nation — it is a game used all over the world, 
a game of all nations, and as Vida says, 

Ludus quern celebrat maxima Roma, 
Extremseque hominum diversa ad littora gentes." 

In the fifteenth paragraph he discourses of the true meaning of the 
word mate, and quotes Persian and Spanish. *' And here," he remarks, 
" the correspondent of the Craftsman seems to be ignorant of the true 
meaning and original signification of the words mate and check-mate. 
The very reason why the Grame is then out, is because the King is 
dead^ and this is what import the words mate and checJc-mate^ as some 
learned men have proved it by the derivation of these words from the 
Persian tongue."* He at length closes by observing that the King 
and his minister will probably not be much more affected by the 
satirical reflections of the Craftsman^ than they would be injured 
" by any of the Kings at Chess, either White or Black, being check- 
mated by the best Player in England, or by the worst bungler at New 
York." In the course of the book, an occasional slip, now and then, 
betrays the pen of the foreigner, but in general, the English is re- 
markably correct, and often strong and forcible. I regret that lack of 
space prevents me from printing it entire, but such extracts as I have 
made will give the reader an idea of this solitary existing memorial of 
Chess as it was in this Western World a century and a quarter ago. 

* He then gives the Persian words Shah and Shah-mat in Hebrew letters. 



16* 



34^ Incidents in the History of 



III.— AARON BUER AND CHESS. 

It appears that Aaron Burr played Chess. We learn from the enter- 
taining life of this remarkable man, lately written by Mr. Parton, that 
upon his arrest, by the command of the federal government, he was 
carried to Fort Stoddart, on the Alabama river. The next day after 
his arrival " Colonel Burr was presented to the wife of the Comman- 
dant, dined with the family, played several games of Chess with the lady, 
and bore himself, in all respects, as he would in a drawing-room of 
Philadelphia or New York." The paragraph concludes by saying that 
'' day by day the prisoner mingled gayly in the narrow circle of the 
fort, played his games at Chess, won every one's heart and appeared to 
give himself no concern respecting the future." Burr's lady antagonist 
was Mrs. Gaines, wife of Captain (afterwards the well-known Major- 
Greneral) Graines. 

After his trial for high treason. Burr, as is well known, returned to 
Europe, where he passed four years of exile. In the Private Journal 
of his Residence in Europe, (published in 1838 by his friend and bio- 
grapher M. L. Davis) occur many entries showing his fondness for the 
game. There was in London a Mrs. Onslow with whom he frequently 
played. Describing a visit at this lady's, under date of November 
Twenty-second, 1808, he says ^^ Jouames tehees — je gagiiaiy On the 
Twenty-ninth of the same month he ^'went out at one to hunt a 
Chess-table ; bought one, which after buying, I found was not the 
thing. Grave it up on paying two shillings." On the same day he 
dined with Mrs. Onslow. "Played two games at Chess and won 
both." The next day he '' took tea and played Chess with 0." On 
the Seventh of December, at his room, he sits up to play "Chess with 
K. till one." This K. was a Mr. Koe, a friend of Jeremy Bentham. 
On the Eighth he was again at Mrs. Onslow's. " Two games of Chess, 
and was beat in both games, though I tried my best." Another entry 
on February Eleventh, 1809, we suppose to refer to the same lady: 
"Mem. — On the way to Duval's bought a settee. Pourquoif For the 
Chess-player^ to whom I am in debt." 

Once more, as in the days at Fort Stoddart, he was enabled to 
relieve the tedium of confinement by means of his knowledge of Chess. 
While in London he bore the assumed name of Kirby. Lord Liver- 
pool, at that time premier of Great Britain, fmding his sojourn in that 
country embarrassing to his majesty's government, issued a warrant 



American Chess. 347 

for his arrest. This warrant was executed on the Fourth of April, 1809, 
and Burr, alias Kirby, was taken to the house of a Mr. Hughes, one of 
the government messengers, who was to be responsible for his safe 
keeping. Hughes Jived at No. 31 Stafford Place. After dining, the 
Ex-Yice President read awhile and then, ''happening to discover that 
Hughes played Chess, we took to that, and, having played until the 
poor fellow is almost crazed, I wrote this, and am now going to bed " 
The next day (the Fifth) there was no change in Burr's condition. No 
one was permitted to see him and he ''went to Chess" and "played 
till five, dinner-time." In the evening again '' at eleven Hughes and I 
engaged in another game of Chess, which lasted till one. I gave him 
a castle to make us even." He was discharged the next day, but was 
obliged to leave England, and went to Sweden. On his passage to 
Gottenburg he states (May Second, 1809,) that he " played much at 
Chess with Captain Nordenskjold of the Swedish Navy, who is rather 
my superior at Chess." After some time spent in Stockholm, Colonel 
Burr made a short excursion into the interior of Sweden. Being 
detained at a little inn, August Fourth, 1809, he enters in his journal 
" Chess the forenoon." Again, crossing a ferry one evening he was 
obliged to wait at the ferryman's hut until horses could be procured. 
Here was no bed or couch and " nothing to eat but a hard, black bread, 
nor to drink but water." He adds, " there being no candle in the hut, 
we could neither read nor play Chess." 

In Northern Germany he visits a Mr. Luning, the father of one of 
his warmest Swedish friends. While there his journal informs us 
(December Fifteenth) that he " played Chess last night with Elenore" 
— probably the daughter of his host. At Eisenach (January Sixth, 
1810), he goes to see General Letocq, and says, " I played two games 
with the General and won both." 

These are all the notes whicli a casual reading of Burr's Journal and 
Barton's Life have enabled me to make. But such as they are, they 
add a new and agreeable item to our scanty information concerning 
early American Chess-players. Did the brave soldier, the shrewd 
statesman, the brilhant conversationist, the foiled fillibuster find in the 
changing aspects of Chess an image of his varied and eventful Hfe ? 
When the Swedish Captain vanquished him in a contest upon the 
checkered field, did Aaron Burr think of the sad defeat which he had 
already experienced in political life, and did he anticipate that sadder 
check-mate which was to put a final end to his domestic hopes ? 



348 Incidents in the History of 



lY.— CHESS IN PHILADELPHIA. 

My Dear Fiske : 

That the Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona multi applies to the heroes 
of the chess-board, as well as to those whom Horace had in mind, 
nobody, I suppose, will dream of questioning ; and that our good 
" Quaker city " had her fair proportion of such peaceful heroes I, for 
one, do not entertain the slightest doubt. But of them, as of the 
Ante-agamemnonians aforesaid, it is equally true, that they are sleeping 
soundly in a long night of oblivion, Carent quia vate sacro — " They 
had no poet, and are dead !" There is just one exception, to be sure, 
but that one exception only serves to demonstrate anew the capricious 
injustice of Fortune, and the vexatious partiality of the Muses. There 
came here, namely, about the middle of the last century, one of those 
migratory Yankees, whom the genuine sons of Penn are wont to look 
upon with something of apprehension and dislike ; but this young fel- 
low had a trade, and gave good proof of possessing- the heroic virtue 
of industrious and successful money-getting. He was not long, there- 
fore, in attaining, among the sympathizing Friends, the privilege of 
toleration, which, by-and-bye, as his v^ealth increased, they converted 
into regular adoption. Now this clever Yankee, so economical of time 
in all other respects, had a perfect passion for playing Chess ; and he 
gives no hint of ever being at a loss for Philadelphians to play with. 
That he was a weak player — in spite of the various attempts of a cer- 
tain Chess- editor to make it out otherwise — is a fair inference from the 
fact, that he found his match in an Englishwoman, and had to accept 
the Knight from a Frenchwoman ;* and that some of his antagonists 
were strong players, who beat him soundly and easily, is rendered in 
the highest degree probable by the fact, that the line of hereditary 
Chess-talent, in one known cotemporary instance, can be traced back, 
reasonably near enough, to the generation in question. It was, how- 
ever, neither his weakness, nor their strength, in Chess, that attracted 
or repelled the attention of the disdainful Muses. But it happened 
that our Yankee friend took it into his head, one day, to perform the 
unaccountable feat of flying a kite at a thunder-cloud, and afterwards 
to dabble in " rebel " politics ; and now, behold ! a goodly heap of 
octavos, by the biographer of Washington, lies solidly and heavily 

* See Le Palamede-La Bourdoyinais^ tome i. p. 41, 



American Chess. 349 

upon his memory ; one entire section of this very chapter of the Book 
has been devoted to his glory as a '^ Chess-player" forsooth ; and thus 
he has come to have nearly as good a chance for immortality as Phili- 
dor himself; while not even the name of those who really deserved 
to be remembered — the men who gave him, or could have given him, 
" Pawn and two," at the least — has escaped the cruel god that eats up 
his own children : " Can haughty Time he just T^ 

The invidious silence of the Muse, in reference to our early Chess 
history, continues unbroken down to the year 1802, when a Philadel- 
phia bookseller issued the first Chess-book ever published in America. 
The cautious character of our tradesmen is proof enough that there 
must have been here, at that time, not Chess-players merely, but 
Chess-students, too, in sufficient number to warrant the publication of a 
didactic treatise. A few years later, in 1813, occurred an event of 
peculiar interest to the present generation of Chess-players — the arrival 
in this city of Mr. Vezin, the patriarch of the Athenaeum.* He found 

* The following particulars of Mr. Yezin's early life have been most kindly 
communicated to me by his son and successor, Mr. Charles Yezin, jr. Charles 
Yezin was born at Osnabriich, in Hanover, in the year 1181. The spelling 
and pronunciation of his name, as well as his physiognomy, appear to indi- 
cate, that he was descended from some refugee Huguenot family. In 1802, 
at the age of twenty-one, he fixed himself at Bordeaux. Here he passed 
ten years as clerk in a commercial house. Having, during that time, by dint 
of the strictest economy and frugality, become master of fifteen hundred 
francs, he resolved to push his fortune in America. It was now 1812, the 
first year of the war with Great Britain, and the sea swarmed with hostile 
cruizers. Mr. Vezin, notwithstanding, took passage in an American vessel, 
was made prisoner at sea, and suffered three weeks' confinement in an Eng- 
lish dungeon. He was then exchanged, and finally landed at Baltimore, 
penniless He came on to Philadelphia, and " made the desperate attempt 
(as his son expresses it) to sell goods on commission." He worked night 
and day, and gradually accumulated a sufficient sum to enable him to engage 
in the importation of German, Belgian, and French goods. He continued in 
this business until the time of his death. He was not only a merchant of the 
highest possible character for business talent and perfect integrity, but also 
a man of superior mind and cultivation. He married, comparatively late in 
life, the daughter of an accomplished countryman of his own ; and from this 
excellent lady I had hoped to receive further details in reference to her 
deceased husband; but both Mrs. Yezin herself and her two youngest 
daughters perished in the conflagration of the Austria, at sea, on the 15th of 
September, 1858. 



350 Incidents in the History of 

here players of about his own strength, — one in particular, who had 
long been looked up to as invincible. Neither he nor they had stu- 
died from books, nor had at command any variety of openings. The 
Gambits were as good as unknown. In this state of things, where, with 
a great deal of Chess-playing, there was httle improvement, a vast im- 
pulse was given to the practice of the game, here as well as elsewhere, 
by the arrival in America of Maelzel with the Automaton of von 
Kempelen. The exciting notices of the New York papers were copied 
into our own ; the booksellers sent out hasty orders for Philidor and 
Sarratt, Cochrane and Lewis, the Stratagems and Oriental Chess ; and 
our best players girded themselves for a fierce contest with the Turk 
the moment he should arrive. The history of such contests, however, 
belongs elsewhere. What it belongs to me to record in this place, is 
the fact, that this deep Automaton excitement soon embodied itself in 
tke recognizable form of a Club — the first Chess organization known 
to have been formed in our city. My informants do, indeed, say, that 
the club was founded ''about the year 1825;" but they also agree, 
that it owed its origin to the visit of the Automaton. If we suppose, 
therefore, that the club was organized before the visit of the Automa- 
ton to Philadelphia, but as soon as possible after the landing of Maelzel 
at New York, it could not date earlier than February, 1826. A date 
quite as late as this appears to me far more probable than that of 1825, 
for nothing short of the profound excitement called forth by the mys- 
terious Turk could account for so sudden a running together of such 
large numbers to organize themselves into the unusual form of a Chess- 
club. More than a hundred members enrolled themselves at the first 
rush — as if imperial Caissa herself, in some desperate necessity, had 
called upon all her subjects, young and old, strong and weak, ban and 
arriere ban, to come to the rescue. A suitable room was engaged over 
the building (long since pulled down), in Chestnut street, near Fifth, 
known as " Sully and Earle's Gallery ;" President, Vice-President, 
Secretary, etc., were elected in full number and in due form ; and an 
abundant supply of tables, with little boards and diminutive men, of 
the London Club pattern, stood ready to gratify the appetite of the 
eager members, who waited only for the termination of these provok- 
ing formalities in order to fall to. Not an individual of the hundred, I 
suppose (except always the sprinkhng of old stagers), but expected to 
astonish his new antagonist by his prowess — for, among those who 
play only at home, the growth of ''invincibilities" is exceedingly 
rapid. But this feverish combativeness — so my informant assures me— 



American Chess. 351 

was cooled with singular effectiveness by the administrations of the 
really strong players, who were so liberal of ^^ Fool's Mates," '^ Scho- 
lar's Mates," and other unseemly forms of checkmate, that they soon 
had the room entirely to themselves. How long this club lasted I 
have not been able to learn. The affair was probably a very agreeable 
one, so long as the strong players could enjoy the fine room at the 
expense of the weaker brethren, whom they had frightened away ; 
but when they alone had to settle with the landlord, they may have 
thought better of it, and have concluded to do their playing at home, 
or at the Athenaeum ; for that institution was beginning, about this 
time, or a little later, to cherish one feeble ray of that light of Chess, 
which has since grown to be an illumination, if not a luminary.* 

The Athenaeum was founded in 1813, the year of the arrival of Mr. 
Yezin. At first, and for nearly a score of years, it was merely a read- 
ing-room association for newspapers and periodicals, foreign and do- 
mestic, with some feeble look towards a hbrary. Until 1847 its home 
was in that wing of the public buildings, on Independence square, 
which was occupied chiefly by the American Philosophical Society. 
For many a long and tedious year did this dull association sustain life 
on the thistles of mere newspaper-reading, without Chess. But its 
very clever and popular librarian, the late lamented Mr. Mcllhenney, 
was passionately fond of the game, and must have longed to see the 
desert, in which it was his lot to dwell, a little gladdened by the view 
of some oasis of black and white squares. This feeling was shared by 
several of the subscribers — few, indeed, in number — but too important 
to the association, by their wealth and weight of character, to be safely 
thwarted or disobhged. By the co-operation of Mr. Mcllhenney with 
Mr. Vezin and other Chess-playing subscribers — (so, at least, it is be- 
lieved) — a small table was quietly smuggled into a remote corner of the 
long reading-room ; and there my informant remembers to have seen, 
at a period later than the organization of the centurial Club, two play- 
ers, moving very ugly Chess-men, by the dim light of a couple of can- 
dles. So late as 1836, when Professor Yethake became a resident of 

* The above particulars, in reference to this club, were communicated to 
me by its former Secretary. Until a short time ago, he had kept in his pos- 
session the engrossed list of its hundred members in its original frame. But 
the frame was wanted by some slip of Young America — whether for a victory 
of Young Eclipse^ or the battle of Tom Hyer and Yankee Sullivan, 1 do not 
now recollect — and thus nearly all of these historical names have " vanished 
(as Carl vie would say) into space.'' 



352 Incidents in the History of 

Philadelphia and a subscriber to the Athenaeum, he recollects finding 
Mr. Yezin seated at the same solitary table, in the remote corner; 
and it was at that time, and by the side of that table, that the 
nearer acquaintance between these eminent players began, which soon 
ripened into an intimate personal friendship, interrupted only by the 
death of him, who was by many years the elder of the two.* Eleven 

* I must be allowed to devote a few words to my friend and colleague. 
Henry Vethake, of German parentage, is grandson of the officer who directed 
the artillery of the allies at the battle of Minden. He commenced his career 
as a Chess-player, at nine years old, by beating his father. His precocity 
attracted attention ; and during his boyhood he played frequently in New 
York society as a Chess prodigy. He dropt Chess altogether while in col- 
lege ; but as a law student he resumed it, and was recognised as the strong- 
est player in New York. He sometimes alludes to an amusing occurrence of 
this period. To wile away the time on board a North River steamboat, he 
accepted the invitation of a stranger to play a game of Chess. Mr. Yethake 
played, as a strong player is wont to, when he discovers that he could 
give half his pieces to his adversary. He had not observed, that the game 
was keenly overlooked by Mr. Jolm R. Livingston, the well-known associate 
of Robert Fulton. Mr. Livingston discovered in Mr. Vethake, despite of 
some unaccountably bad moves, the germ of superior Chess talent. This he 
expressed to the young stranger in courteous and complimentary terms, and 
assured him, moreover, that, in fact, all he needed was some lessons from 
some one, like himself, who really knew the game, to become a good player. 
Mr. Yethake, in return, meekly entreated that so important a course of 
instruction might begin at once. Mr. Livingston graciously complied ; but, 
after a few moves, accompanied by illustrative remarks, he found his own 
game so completely pulled to pieces, that he was forced, in amazement, to 
utter a good-humored, Aut Erasmus aut Diaholus! — the crushing strength of 
his young antagonist's play had sufficiently revealed his name. The greater 
part of Mr. Yethake's life, from the completion of his law studies to his 
removal to Philadelphia in 1836, was spent as professor of mathematics in 
various institutions, where he had no opportunity of finding players ap- 
proaching to his own strength. For ten or fifteen years, therefore, he may 
be said to have abandoned Chess altogether. During a visit to Germany, in 
1829-30, his interest*n Chess was renewed by looking over a game in the 
hotel 2it AiX'la- Chapelle. He sought the best players at various stopping- 
places, and beat them all. At Berlin he found a stronger adversary, but 
succeeded in drawing his game, to the great mortification of the Prussian, 
who said that if it had been a Frenchman, who had thus wrested victory 
from him, he could never have forgiven himself And this was said in the 



American Chess. 353 

years later, in the year 1847, a very neat brown stone building was 
completed by the association, in Sixth street, on Washington square ; 
and Chess was distinctly recognised by the appropriation of a small 
room between the airy library and the space devoted to the consump- 
tion of newspapers. The little old table was thrown into the cellar, 
and its array of deformed warriors sent into some retreat equally inglo- 
rious, with most ungrateful oblivion (I must say) of the part both had 
played in the classic contests of Yezin with Stanley and with Schulten. 
Four tables, however, of very convenient construction, stepped exult- 
ingly into the promised land, which the meek precursor of Fifth street 
was not allowed to enter; and big, resolute-looking men — turned 
from patterns furnished by an ingenious subscriber — were disposed in 
well-contrived receptacles, and seemed to long for the combat as 
eagerly as the rusting armor of the '' Shepherd Lord." A certain 
expansion of Athenaeum Chess may have followed upon this enlarge- 
ment of room, and such multiplication of facilities for playing ; but it 
still retained all the unity of a true '^ School of Chess," (the Academia 
elegit Scacchi, of the Italian writers), although entirely without the for- 
mal organization of a Chess club, because that unity had been pro- 
duced, not by the one table and the narrow space, but by the insensible 
operation, through a score of years, of one unobtrusively predominant 
influence, the example of Mr. Charles Yezin, who was now approach- 
ing his three-score-and-ten. A perfect model of high-bred and amia- 
ble courtesy, Mr. Vezin had always been a dihgent student of the 
game, and had valued his Chess reputation highly enough to be wilHng 
to maintain it in serious contests and formal matches. These matches 
constitute the most salient points in the history of Athenasan Chess 
for many years. I cannot do better, therefore, than to mention such 
of them as I know, after premising a short account of Mr. Yezin's ear- 
lier Chess history. 

Mr. Yezin came to this country a Chess-player, and immediately 
took rank as a strong player, if not the strongest in our city. But he 
used to say, later in life, that he knew nothing of ^' chess that was 
chess" until he began to play with the director of the Automaton, 
Schlumberger. It is a tradition here, that during Maelzel's first exhi- 
bition, in the winter of 1827, Mr. Yezin played with the Automaton 

days of Deschappelles and La Bourdonnais I Professor Yethake is now the 
Provost of our University. It is matter of deep regret that none of his 
matches with Mr. Yezin were ever recorded. 



354 Incidents in the History of 

and won. If so, he got no credit for his victory : the sympathies of 
the spectators were always with the mysterious Turk, whose invinci- 
bihty was a cherished article of the popular creed ; and even the late 
Dr. Patterson, who was present at the contest, would allow that Mr. 
Vezin had won only by being '' so confoundedly long on his moves." 
Be this as it may, although Schlumberger was — and knew hit iself to 
be — fully able to give Mr. Vezin odds, he took an early opportunity 
of calling upon him, (according to a prudent system of Maelzel's), and 
to say, '' that as it was for Mr. Maelzel's interest, that his Automaton 
should neither lose nor risk its character for invincibility, Mr. Maelzel 
begged of Mr. Yezin the favor not to play with the Automaton in 
pubhc. In requital of Mr. Vezin's courtesy, Mr. Maelzel would permit 
Schlumberger to play with him in private as much as he liked." Mr. 
Vezin gladly accepted the offer : he received Schlumberger frequently 
at his house, and adopted at once the relation of " pupil" towards this 
able ^' Chess professor" of the Cafe de la Regence — adding kind and 
courteous attentions to the proper compensation for instruction. I 
presume, that Mr. Vezin's playing with Schlumberger began in 1827 ; 
and that it was always resumed whenever Maelzel came to Philadel- 
phia, where he spent a much larger part of his time than anywhere 
else. I know that he continued the intercourse down to a day or two 
before Schlumberger left the city for the last time ; but studious as 
Mr. Vezin was, during these eight years of such superior instruction, 
he was never able to cope successfully with the great '^ Director." At 
their last meeting, in the house of Professor Vethake, they played two 
games, both of which Mr. Vezin lost. He continued, however, to 
study and improve ; and after a few years used sometimes to say to his 
friend, '^ If Schlumberger v^^ere to meet us now^ he would not find it 
quite so easy to beat us." 

With Professor Vethake Mr. Vezin stood on terms of particular inti- 
macy. The acquaintance had begun, between ten and twenty years 
before Mr. Vethake became a resident of the city, when he was profes- 
sor, I beheve, at Princeton. While on a visit to Philadelphia, Mr. Vezin, 
who was well acquainted with his high reputation as a Chess-player, 
sought him out and introduced himself to him. He was the more 
ready, therefore, in 1836, to welcome Mr. Vethake as a most valuable 
accession to the Athenseum circle, and to study still farther to improve 
his own play by frequent and strenuous contests with an adversary so 
powerful. They regarded themselves, and were regarded by others, 
as strictly equal. In their style of play, however, there was a marked 



American Chess. 355 

difference — ^but a difference, which Professor Yethake thinks to have 
been in great part accidental. Mr. Yezm had never been out of 
practice, and had been constantly adding to his knowledge of the 
game. Under Schlumberger he had acquired a good command of the 
Gambits ; and he had worked hard at all the Openings, both in books 
and with his studious young friends over the board. Professor Yethake, 
on the other hand, had never made the game a subject of systematic 
study ; he had more than once allowed years to pass without playing 
at all ; and in 1836, he had even neglected the Chess-board for fifteen 
years, with the exception of half a dozen games played during a visit 
to G-ermany. He now resumed Chess with much satisfaction, indeed ; 
and with such a constitution of mind as his, he could not play care- 
lessly : but he did not feel disposed — at the grave years of middle 
life — to begin a minute study of the Openings. For this reason, as 
well as because he considered the sacrifice of the Pawn at the second 
move to be radically unsound, he never gave the Oambit in an even 
game, and contented himself with working out the proper defence for 
foiling the brilliant G-ambits of Mr. Yezin. He was, however, an 
attacking player, in his own way ; and his calculations were as origi- 
nal and interesting, as they were deep and carefully calculated. The 
two friends continued to play together — in chance games and set 
matches — until Mr. Yezin began to feel the approaches of the slow 
decay of which he died. When, in their last match, Mr. Yezin lost 
five games out of seven, he said it would no longer do for him to play 
with so strong an adversary : the effort, which it required, was flir 
beyond what he could make with safety. He continued, however, to 
make his stated visit to Mr. Yethake' s house, every Sunday afternoon, 
as he had done for years ; and when he could no longer bear the 
fatigue of even so short a walk, he took a carriage, rather than forego 
the friendly interview at the usual time and place. 

Of Mr. Yezin's Chess contests with other strong players, some slight 
record happens to have been preserved. In 1841, he played a match at 
the Athenaeum with Mr. Schulten. The first four games were won in 
succession by Mr. Yezin; and great was the elation of his young 
friends at the prospect of his final success ; but this brilliant beginning 
was not followed up with equal good fortune : — the tide turned sud- 
denly against the beloved veteran, and Mr. Schulten won all, or nearly 
all, of the remaining games of the match. In October, 1842, it appears 
from Mr. Oliver's manuscript journal, that Mr. Yezin went to Boston 
with Mr. Schulten to witness the return-match between these two 



35^ Incidents in the History of 

redoubted champions. Mr. Oliver lost the match — '^ owing (he partly 
suspected) to the men " — and one may perceive, I think, something of 
the '^ Earl Percy sees my fall " in his characterizing the Philadelphian 
witness of the match as '^perhaps the strongest player in the United 
States." A subsequent trial of four games with Mr. Yezin — of which 
each won two — left Mr. Oliver " persuaded " (rather too easily, I think) 
^' of his superior force." With the hopes generated by this persuasion, 
Mr. Oliver visited Philadelphia during the October of the next year 
(1843). In a short match of five games, Mr. Oliver won three against 
Mr. Yezin's two. At their next meeting, Mr. Ohver played his own 
brilliant gambit successfully ; but presently Mr. Vezin had worked out 
the defence, and then he became victor in turn. Mr. Ohver's further 
record is, that '^ he had been beaten very much by Mr. Yezin " — which 
he ascribed (not this time to the ''men") but to '' the excitement ot 
travelling and other similar causes^ Was ever true Chess-player — 
from Paolo Boi downwards — without his theory to account for the 
singular phenomenon of his own defeat ? 

Another entry in Mr. Oliver's Journal states that Professor Yethake 
had expressed a desire to play with him ; but that he had refused to 
play, except for the stake of a board and men. It could hardly have 
surprised a son of the Pilgrims, I think, that Mr. Yethake — both on 
principle and from the necessity of his position as a teacher of youth 
should decline to play for any stake whatever. Yet Mr. Oliver records, 
with great particularity, that he had more than once oJBfered Mr. 
Yethake {^^ Vezin'' in the MS., is an evident slip of the pen), to play 
with him for the stake aforesaid. I am afraid that my fellow-country- 
man was laying his plans (as great men have done in our own day), 
for escaping, with flying colors, from a combat with the friend and 
equal of Mr. Yezin. 

About this time, a sensation was made in the American Chess world by 
the arrival in this country of the brilliant English player, Mr. Charles H. 
Stanley. Mr. Yezin was desirous that his young frien'ds should have 
an opportunity of witnessing the play of the rising master, and there- 
fore readily arranged a match with him, although (as he avowed) he 
expected to be beaten. He even consented, on this occasion, to play 
for a stake, solely upon the ground that Mr. Stanley, in winning it, 
would be merely compensated for the trouble and expense of coming 
to Philadelphia. The match was played at the Athenaeum early in the 
year 1844. Mr. Stanley, in a tone happily characteristic of himself, has 
recorded, that " on this occasion, though unsuccessful, Mr. Yezin at 



American Chess. 357 

least 'bore himself as a knight/ winning seven and drawing three, out 
of a total number of twenty-one games." The same courteous adver- 
sary adds, that ''in a game played by correspondence, a short time 
after, between the same parties, Mr. Yezin was yet more successful, as, 
in the latter case, he defeated his antagonist in the most handsome 
manner." This correspondence-game was played in the year 1845, 
and may be found — together with one or two other specimens of Mr. 
Vezin's style — ^in Mr. Stanley's American Chess Magazine. 

In the year 1847, a match of two simultaneous games was played by 
correspondence between Philadelphia and Boston. From a record in 
the American Chess Magazine^ I infer that the terms of the match were 
arranged during a visit to tlie Athenaeum of a Boston amateur, equally 
known for strength of play and large acquaintance with Chess science 
and Chess literature, Mr. Greorge Hammond. It appears, from the 
same authority, that on this occasion Mr. Hammond had the honor of 
winning the odd game, in a close contest of seven games with the 
Nestor of the Athenasum. Mr. Stanley, however, remarks, with his 
customary fairness, that as Mr. Hammond, in turn, was defeated by a 
very large majority, in a series of games played with Mr. Randolph, the 
result of the encounter with Mr. Yezin cannot be looked upon as in 
any manner conclusive — Mr. R., although a young player of very 
great promise, being certainly not yet to be considered as the equal of 
his more experienced "Mentor," Mr. Yezin. Perhaps Mr. Stanley 
may have been aware of another reason, why the result of such a 
match could not be looked upon as affecting Mr. Yezin's real standing 
as a player — viz., the time-worn veteran was now in his sixty-seventh 
year, and had begun to lose gradually the perfect command of his men- 
tal resources. His son assures me, that his father considered himself to 
have been at the height of his strength in 1845, when he encountered 
Mr. Stanley, and that " memory began to play him tricks " from about 
that time. 

According to the arrangements for the match, the Athengeum was 
to be represented by two very strong young players, Mr. Philip P. 
Randolph and Mr. Tilghman ; the Boston Club by Mr. Hammond him- 
self, " with liberty to consult any fellow-member of the Club." The 
game, in which Boston had the move, was drawn by perpetual check, 
on the part of the defence, at the twenty-second move ; the Philadel- 
phia game, after the thirty-sixth move of the attack, had assumed such 
an aspect, that the Boston Club wisely decided, rather than suffer a 
lingering death by post, to depute their champion to play out the 



358 Incidents in the History of 

remaining moves, here, over the board, w^itli either member of the 
Athenaemn Committee. Mr. Hammond, accordingly, again visited the 
Athenaeum — hj this time removed (I beheve) to the new building--- 
and gracefully accepted the coup de grace from the victorious hand of 
Mr. Tilghman.* Whether the redoubtable Bostonian received some 
compensation for this official defeat by further victories over Mr. Yezin, 
by winning a return-match of Mr. Randolph, or by beating Mr. Tilgh- 
man on private account, I am entirely ignorant. No one would envy 
him a due share of consolation for submitting to his fate so handsomely. 
I am informed of no incident, in our Athenaeum history, beyond the 
private contests of our own players, before the decease of Mr. Yezin. 
I learn by the press copy of a letter to Mr. Stanley (for which I am 
indebted to Mr. Charles Yezin, jr.), that his decline had so far advanced 
in 1850, that he was no longer able to leave the city. He even 
expressed himself as having taken, for some time, little interest in the 
game ; but he could have meant to say no more than that he took 
little part in playing himself; for though his venerable form had been 
less and less frequently seen at the Chess-table,. since about 1847, he 
had by no means ceased to take a lively interest in the playing of others. 
He frequented the Athenaeum daily — usually, he says, in the afternoon 
— and when he could no longer walk thither, he took a carriage. The 
time came, at last, when he could no longer leave his house, either for 
his Sunday's interview with his friend. Prof. Yethake, or his daily visit 
to the Chess-room of the Athenaeum. The painless extinction of this 
unpretending light of Chess — the calm departure of his serene and gen- 
tle spirit — was now evidently near at hand. Contemplating his 
approaching death with constitutional equanimity and perfect prepa- 
ration of mind, his thoughts were driven by no violent agitation from 
their usual channel. It happened that during the week (I believe) 
before his death, the celebrated New York player, Mr. Thompson, was 
visiting the Athenaeum, and — truth to say — was giving our stoutest 
champions no very agreeable proofs of his prowess. Mr. Yezin kept 

* It was, apparently, soon after the close of this match, that Mr. Tilghman 
was drawn by business to England, and there played, with remarkable suc- 
cess, in the London Club. I have heard some interesting particulars of "his 
first visit to tlie Club, but I have not been able to verify them from the proper 
source. One game of his with Mr. Tuckett is given in the Chess-Play er^s 
Chronicle, vol. viii. p. 290. I have seen the same game copied in two or 
tliree German Chess books as a model-game in the King's Gambit. 



American Chess. 359 

himself regularly informed of the fluctuating course of this closely con- 
tested campaign. When he last saw Mr. Yethake, he charged him to 
remind Mr. Mcllhenney not to forget his daily report — the more 
earnestly, for at that moment the fate of Athensean Chess reputation 
was '' balancing upon the razor's edge." On the Sunday before his 
death, Mr. Daniel Smith, of the Athenaeum, called at Mr. Yezin s house, 
not expecting to see him — for he was aware that no visitor was any 
longer admitted to his presence — ^but merely to make his kind inquiries. 
When, however, it was known that he was one of Mr. Yezin's friends 
of the Athenaeum, he was told that Mr. Yezin wished by all means to 
see him. Mr. Smith was accordingly ushered into his room, where he 
saw M. Yezin — ^by no means stretched helpless on his bed — but sitting in 
his easy-chair, with his toilette carefully made, in cravat and flowered 
dressing-gown — in other respects, however, looking more like one 
whose soul had departed, than a living man. Mr. Yezin received Mr. 
Smith with his usual urbanity, and with great difficulty — yet not with- 
out the courteous formality of the exquisitely well-bred gentleman — 
assured Mr.^mith, that he was particularly happy to see him, first, 
because of the personal regard which he entertained for him, and, 
secondly, because he wished to learn what had been the result of the 
games with Mr. Thompson. Mr. Smith, with equal urbanity, and with 
an unconscious imitation of the same formality, assured Mr. Yezin, 
first, that he was sincerely grateful to him for his expressions of regard 
towards himself, and, secondly, that he felt particular pleasure in being 
able to inform him, that Mr. Thompson had gone home to New York 
with one game minus — an assurance which was listened to with the 
most evident satisfaction by the dying Chess-player. Within a day or 
two after this consoHng interview — on the 8th day of April, 1853 — 
the painless death of the gentle old man took place. 

No man ever possessed, in a higher degree than Mr. Yezin, the 
moral characteristics of a perfect Chess-player. His nerves were dis- 
turbed in play neither by irritability nor timidity. His view of the 
board was clear and sure ; his imagination was a steady light, that 
suggested the proper combination in time ; and he worked out his 
analysis in a calm and steady progress. To say that he neither showed 
ill-temper in defeat, nor unseemly exultation in victory, is saying little 
for a man of his temper and manners. He carried the proprieties of 
the Chess-room to the extent of the most refined delicacy. He would 
never challenge a defeated adversary to another game, as if eager to 
renew his triumph; he held it to be more proper to wait until the 



360 Incidents in the History of 

loser should ask his " revenge." Many maxims and practices of simi- 
lar delicacy he left behind him as a legacy to his younger friends. 
There was nothing, however, which he guarded with more jealousy, 
than his reputation as a Chess-player. A serious defeat at Chess was 
to him a real humiliation, which he bore, indeed, with perfect good- 
temper, but he felt it deeply. In later days, when such reverses 
happened oftener than they ought, he even made solemn resolutions 
(so he wrote to Mr. Stanley) to abandon the game altogether— resolu- 
tions which he kept sometimes for weeks, and sometimes (he says) 
for a year. It was only in reference to his Chess reputation, that he 
ever showed (to my knowledge) any keen sense of insult or injury. 
On one occasion, after Mr. Yezin's strength had begun to fail, some 
stranger visitor at the Athenaeum — perhaps some obtusely good-na- 
tured Western barbarian — perhaps some supercilious foreign player, 
smiling insult from under a well-curled moustache — challenged him to 
a match, and, when Mr. Yezin declined, had either the inconsiderate 
folly, or the insolent rudeness (as the case may have been), to repeat 
the challenge, with the offer of the Pawn and Move. Now had any 
business-transaction of Mr. Yezin's been in question, I think he 
would have quietly left his well-established character as a merchant to 
take care of itself; but this was an attack upon his standing as a 
Chess-player, made, too, in utter violation of every rule of propriety, 
which he had himself inculcated and practised. The sick lion took the 
spurn to heart, with every expression of wounded sensibility ; and 
although he undoubtedly forgave the author of the injury, when the 
time came to do so in extremis^ he certainly never spoke to him again. 
When Mr. Yezin wrote to Mr. Stanley, in 1850, he spoke despond- 
ingly of the Chess prospects of the Athenaeum. Professor Yethake (he 
said) had ceased to play ; and his favorite disciples, Kandolph and 
Tilghman, no longer visited the Chess-room. He spoke very highly of 
the superior talent and h»rd study of his young friend, Thomas ; and 
gave Elkin the credit of remarkable genius, but added, that " he did 
not much like hard work" — a position which my brilliant friend admits 
to be profoundly true. These young men, he said, usually played only 
with inferior antagonists, and therefore carelessly. ^' If, consequently, 
Philadelphia could ever boast of a pre-eminence in Chess, in the United 
States, she is in a fair way (he said) of losing it, if she has not done so 
already." At the date of this letter, Hardman Philips Montgomery, 
not yet a student in the University, was unknown at the Athenaeum ; 
and it was not until about a year before Mr. Yezin's death, that this 



American Chess. ^ 361 

youthful inheritor of his mantle could be recognised by him as such.* 
It was by the victorious efforts of " Phil. Montgomery, "t in fact, thai 
Mr. Thompson had been sent home ''one game minus f^ it was hib 
triumph, that had shed so bright a gleam of satisfaction upon Mr. Ye- 
zin's last thoughts of Chess and of his beloved Athenaeum. Mr. Mont- 
gomery's ability to sustain our ancient glory has been tried more than 
once since that time. Well-known players — such as Mr. Pindar (now 
in England), Dr. Raphael, and Mr. Fuller — have visited the Chess-room 
in turn, and none of them (I believe) has had Mr. Thompson's good 
luck, of keeping his minus account down to one. 

In the winter of 1855-56 a proposition was made to the Athenasum 
players, on the part of the New York Chess Club, to contest with 
them a match by correspondence. Action was not immediately taken 
by our players, simply because they were without organization as a club. 
But in the month of February, Mr. W. J. A. Fuller, a leading member 
of the New York Club, made a visit to the Athenaeum, (of which he gave 
a pleasant account in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper)^ and effected 
the proper arrangements. It was agreed that the match should con- 
sist of two games, to be played simultaneously, each party to have the 
white pieces and the move in one of the games. The Athenaeum 
players intrusted their honor, by common consent, to Mr. Philip P. 
Randolph, Mr. H. Philips Montgomery, Mr. William Gr. Thomas, Mr. 
Lewis Elkin, Mr. Alexander E. Dougherty, and Dr. Samuel Lewis. 
The first moves in the two games were exchanged on the 22d of Fe- 
bruary, 1856. The game opened by New York was made a Qiuoco 
Siciliano by the Philadelphians, with a view to playing, with less effort, 
for a drawn game, in order that they might reserve their entire strength, 
and give full time, to their own game, which was a Scotch G-ambit. 

* When Philips Montgomery entered the Sophomore Class of the Univer- 
sity, in 1851, he immediately attracted the attention of his professor, Mr. 
Yetliake, by his superior strength in matliematics ; but I well remember the 
brighter glow of satisfaction, with which the same professor one day informed 
liis colleagues, that he had discovered our young Montgomery to be a strong 
Chess-player; he had found him (he said) overlooking a game at the 
Athenaeum ; and, at the close of it, the youth had pointed out an admirable 
line of play, which had escaped the parties themselves ; in sliort, it was such 
a remark as Mr. Yezin or Mr. Yethake himself might have made. 

f Such is the sobriquet^ by which Our champion is universally designated 
at the Athenaeum, to distinguish him from another Mr. Montgomery, who is 
also of the Athenaeum and a strong player. 

16 



362 



Incidents in the History of 



No committee, I am confident, ever performed the arduous duty in- 
trusted to them more laboriously and perseveringly than the Commit- 
tee of the Athenaeum. Their analytic toil was incessant ; and yet so 
promptly was it performed, that they were, in nearly every instance, 
prepared to answer the New York men by return post. A suspension 
of play, during the summer months, was a most welcome and neces- 
sary respite. The Philadelphia game was the first concluded : it was 
resigned by the New York Committee on the 12th of January, 1857, 
at the thirty-second move. The other game was continued until the 
9th of February, when, upon the receipt of the forty-first move of the 
New Yorkers, the Athenaeum Committee announced checkmate in six 
moves. The year-long correspondence between the two committees 
had been marked by entire harmony and courtesy, and they took leave 
of each other with increased feelings of good will and respect. At the 
suggestion of the editor of the Book of the Congress the moves in 
these two admirably played games are here reproduced. 

GAME I.— SICILIAN OPENING. 



New York. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 

3. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

4. Q. takes P. 

5. Q. to Q. sq. 

6. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

7. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

8. P. takes P. 

9. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 

10. K. B. to.Q. Kt. 5th. 

11. K. B. takes Kt. 

12. Castles. 

13. Q. Kt. to K. Kt. 3d. 

14. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

15. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 

16. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

17. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

18. P. to K. B. 3d. 

19. K. B. to K. sq. 

20. B. to Q. Kt. 2d. 



Philadelphia. 

1. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

2. P. takes P. . 

3. P. to K. 3d. 

4. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

5. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

6. K. Kt. to K. 2d. 

7. P. to Q. 4th. 

8. K. Kt. takes P. 

9. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

10. Castles. 

11. P. takes B. 

12. P. to K. B. 4th. 

13. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 

14. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 

15. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

16. B. to Q. Kt. 2d. 

17. Q. to Q. B. 3d. 

18. B. to Q. B. 2d. 

19. Q. B. to K. sq. 

20. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 



American Chess. 



363 



New York. 

21. K. R. to K. 2d. 

22. Q. R. to K. sq. 

23. P. takes P. 

24. K. Kt. to K. R. 3d. 

25. P. takes B. 

26. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

27. Q. to Q. B. 3d. 

28. R. takes Q. 

29. Q. takes R. 

30. K. to B. sq. 

31. R. to Q. 2d. 

32. P. takes P. 

33. R. to Q. 7th. 

34. K. to Kt sq. 

35. R. to K. Kt. 7th. (ch.) 

36. R. takes K. R. P. 

37. R. to K. R. 8th. (ch.) 

38. B. to K. 5th. 

39. K. to K. R. 2d. 

40. K. to K. R. 3d. 

41. R. to Q. B. 8th. 



Philadelphia. 

21. P. to K. 4th. 

22. P. to K. 5th. 

23. K. B. to K. B. 5th. 

24. B. takes Kt. 

25. Kt. takes P. 

26. Kt. takes Kt. 

27. Q. takes K. Kt. P. (ch.) 

28. R. takes R. (ch.) . 

29. Kt. to B. 6th. (ch.) 

30. Kt. takes Q. 

31. P. to B. 5th. 

32. Kt. to K. Kt 7tli. 

33. R. takes P. (ch.) 

34. B. to K. 5th. 

35. K. to B. sq. 

36. Kt to K. 6th. 

37. K. to B. 2d. 

38. R. to K. B. 8th. (ch.) 

39. Kt to K. B. 4th. 

40. P. to K. Kt 4th. 



And Philadelphia announced mate in six moves. 



aAME II.~SOOTCH GAMBIT. 



Philadelphia. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt to B. 3d. 

3. P. to Q. 4th. 

4. Kt. takes Kt. 

5. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

6. Castles. 

7. P. to K. 5th. 

8. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

9. Kt takes P. 

10. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

11. Kt to K, 4th. 



New York. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt to B. 3d. 

3. Q. Kt. takes P. 

4. P. takes Kt. 

5. Q. to K. B. 3d. 

6. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

7. Q. to K. B. 4th. 

8. P. takes P. 

9. Kt to K. 2d. 

10. Q. to K. 3d. 

11. B. to Q. 5th. 



3^4 



Incidents in the History of 



Philadelphia. 




New York. 


12. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


12. 


Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


13. Q. to K. R. 5th. 


13. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


14. Q. to K. R. 6th. 


14. 


B. takes K. P. 


15. K. R. to K. sq. 


15. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


16. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


16. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


17. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


17. 


Q. to K. 3d. 


18. Kt. takes B. 


18. 


P. takes Kt. 


19. Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 


19. 


K. R. to K. B. sq. 


20. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


20. 


Q. to K. B. 4th. 


21. B. takes Kt. 


21. 


K. takes B. 


22. P. to K. B. 4th. 


22. 


P. to K. 5th. 


23. B. to Q. 3d. 


23. 


B. to K. 3d. 


24. B. takes P. 


24. 


Q. to Q. R. 4th. 


25. Q. to K. R. 4th. (ch.) 


25. 


K. to Q. 2d. 


26. K. R. to Q. sq. (eh.) 


26. 


K. to K. sq. 


27. K. to K. R. sq. 


27. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


28. R. takes Q. B. P. 


28. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


29. Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 


29. 


R. takes R. 


30. R. takes R. 


30. 


P. to K. R. 4th. 


31. Q. to K. B. 6th. 


31. 


B. to Q. B. sq. 


32. B. takes Q. Kt. P. 






And New Y 


ork resi 


gned. 



The separate impression, from the pages of the Chess Monthly^ of 
these games, with notes and variations, having been entirely private, 
it is proper to record, in this historic paper, that the Philadelphia 
Committee, in the moment of victory, reverted in thought to him, 
whose spirit they might well imagine to have been present with them 
in a contest for the honor of his beloved Athenaeum, and to Ms memory 
they inscribed the volume, in a dedication which evidently speaks the 
affecting language of truth : To the memory of their venerated Friend 
their Master and Model in Chess^ the late lamented Charles Vezin, these 
Games are inscribed hy the Athenaeum Committee. 

The effect of this really remarkable achievement upon the very atmo- 
sphere of the AthenaBum Chess-room was particularly striking to the 
eye of one, who, like myself, was only an infrequent visitor, and never 
a combatant. The members of the COMMITTEE bore themselves with 
a gravity, that well became the new weight of reputation and responsi- 
bility, wliich had come so fairly to rest upon their shoulders. The playing 



American Chess. 365 

even of the '^ lighter weights" was marked by a seriousness and slow- 
ness, that ^* looked as if it would be science if it could."* The room, 
the tables, the pieces, were discovered to be entirely below the present 
standard of dignity. A subscription was raised to repair, to buy, to 
beautify. A handsome table, of improved construction, Avas introduced 
to replace some ugly antiquity. One headless Knight, and another 
whose head had been stuck on with sealing-wax — a Bishop with clo- 
ven mitre — a Castle with shattered battlements — all were packed off 
to the turner to be made new again ; and as to the remaining cham- 
pions and ^'unwashed citizens" of this fierce militia, these eyes did 
see one of the most honored members of the glorious Committee mak- 
ing to them solemn application of soap and water — -just as sovereign 
princes have been wont sometimes, with their own hands, to wipe the 
dust and sweat of battle from the brows of favorite warriors, non 
indecoro pulvere sordidos. When the work of renovation had been 
perfected, serious matches began to be talked of, and some were 
played — for the ordinary '' skittling games" of our hitherto careless 
^' first-rates" were felt to be no longer worthy of the men and of the 
time. Nay, " Phil. Montgomery" was obliged to abide the test of giv- 
ing Pawn and Move to players of no ordinary force — a test which he 
bore without loss of credit. 

But the interest of all Chess amateurs was presently transferred to 
another scene — to the contests of the First American Chess Congress, 
and to the first appearance, upon a field at all commensurate with his 
wondrous powers, of the youthful Paul Morphy. In this Congress 
Philadelphia was represented by Philips Montgomery alone ; and the 
unexpected prolongation of the session compelled him to return home 
after winning his match with AlHson, and playing one game (which he 
lost) with Paulsen. SHght, however, as was the part which Philadel- 
phia took in the Congress, she has been behind no city in feeling the 
stirring effect of the great Chess excitement which began there, but 
has now been extended over the whole world by the chivalrous adven- 
tures of our unrivalled champion. The Athenaeum is still the centre 
and soul of Philadelphia Chess ; but around that centre are now re- 
volving the lesser orbs of many a newly-formed club — one of them 
composed exclusively of English residents, and another of studious 

* The great English scholar, the Rev. D. Bentley, in his hearty contempt 
for weak potations, used to say of Clarei, that it looked as if it would be Fort 
if it could. 



366 Incidents in the History of 

G-ermans. Chess columns are opened in three of our newspapers, but 
only one of them — that of the Saturday Evening Bulletin — receives the 
support and co-operation of the Athenaeum players, and speaks with 
" the large utterance of the greater gods." 

I am happy in being able to close this slight history of Philadelphia 
Chess with the record of another Athenaeum victory. The New York 
Chess Club and the Athenaeum players have again tried their strength 
in a match of two consultation-games, played over the wires of the 
American Telegraph Company. The Athenaeum confided its honor to 
the committee, which had so well sustained it in the match by corre- 
spondence. The first game, opened by New York, was drawn ; the 
second game was a Scotch Gambit, opened by Philadelphia, and this 
was won in the most brilliant style. 

Our Athenaeum, therefore, at the moment when I lay down my pen, 
is still in full possession of its ancient pre-eminence. Little as I have 
had to do with winning or sustaining its glory, I exult in it as much 
as if its Chess-room had been the scene of exploits of my own ; and it 
is with perfect sincerity of interest that I exclaim, as did the too patri- ■ 
otic Servite for his native Venice, Esto perpetua ! 

a. A. 

Philadelphia Athenjeum, Jan. 1, 1859. 






V.—CHESS m BOSTON. 

The early history of Chess in Boston has passed away with those 
votaries of the game, who in former years engaged in the friendly con- 
tests of mind against mind, and won or lost unnumbered battles on the 
checkered field. The forms that once bent over the Chess-board, scan- 
ning with watchful eyes the progress of the game, as the hands, execu- 
tives of the all-controlling mind, guided the pieces in their varied moves, 
have long since mingled with their mother earth and been transformed 
by the subtle alchemy of Nature into particles of organic matter, that, 
perchance, have afforded life and sustenance to the devotees of Caissa 
in the present generation. Buried in the silent tomb of the Past, by 
the side of those valiant knights who once paid homage to our ever- 
youthful and enchanting Groddess, lie the chronicles of the regal game 
that would now prove so valuable and interesting. All endeavors to 
penetrate the sepulchral gloom and rescue from oblivion the traditions 



American Chess. 367 

of by-gone years, have proved futile, and whosoever w^ould look upon 
the scenes of the Chess-world of the last century must visit its shadowy 
realms with Imagination for a guide. 

Dealing with the sterner facts of history, the opening of the present 
century must serve as a starting-point for this sketch, and although the 
records, either written or printed, of the doings of the amateurs of 
Chess for many years subsequent to that time, are few in number and 
exceedingly meagre as to details, yet sufficient information has been 
gleaned from the veteran players now living, to present a general out- 
line of the progress of the game from the days when Chess was regarded 
as a positive* luxury by the few who were familiar with its mysteries, 
down to the date of the formation of the first Chess Club and to the 
present '' golden age " of Chess. 

In the year 1805, William Pelham, publisher and bookseller at No. 
59 Cornhill, issued a work entitled '^ The Elements of Chess, a Treatise 
combining Theory with Practice, and comprising the whole of Phili- 
dor's G-ames and explanatory Notes, new modelled and arranged upon 
an original Plan." This was one of the earliest works upon Chess pub- 
lished in the United States, and the first of its kind printed at Boston. 
The editor of this volume — (that the book was edited by some Chess- 
player at the time of its publication is apparent from an exceedingly 
interesting Appendix, containing much new and original matter) — was 
undoubtedly a nephew of Mr. Pelham's, named William Blagrove, who 
is known to have been an enthusiast of Chess, and a player of merit^ 
though no further information upon the latter point can be obtained. 
Blagrove, at that time, kept a stationery store and circulating library at 
No. 5 School street, and is remembered by many of the older citizens 
of Boston to-day, who then attended school in School street, and were 
among his best patrons, buying quills, pencils, slates, and other articles 
for use at school. Blagrove afterwards removed to No. 61 Cornhill, 
where he kept the '^ Union Circulating Library," and subsequently, 
about the year 1810, went to Washington, D. C, where it is believed 
he died. 

It is difficult to assign a satisfactory reason for the publication of this 
treatise at that time; a natural inference would be that a demand 
existed sufficient to warrant the undertaking. But it is hardly probable 
that among the persons then interested in Chess, there were many suf- 
ficiently engrossed in the game to purchase a book devoted exclusively 
to its exemplification and practice, and notwithstanding the sale of tlie 
work was not confined to Boston, yet the number of copies hkely to 



368 Incidents in the History of 

have been disposed of, would barely furnish an adequate remuneration 
to the publisher. A more plausible supposition is, that Blagrove's 
enthusiasm for Chess, and his desire to promote the interests of the 
game and aid in its extension led him to induce his uncle to publish 
^' The Elements of Chess." The knowledge of its pubhcation and of 
Blagrove's probable connection with the book renders one fact certain ; 
that there were Chess-players in Boston in 1805, though as to who they 
were or what victories they achieved no information has been vouch- 
safed. 

During the twenty years succeeding that date, the practice of Chess 
was limited to such occasional play as might occur when t>vo admirers 
of the game were brought together by good fortune, but there were 
no attempts at regular meetings, nor has any account been preserved 
of the proceedings during that period. In 1825-6 several gentlemen 
were in the habit of meeting from time to time, to enjoy their favorite 
game, occasionally at the boarding-house kept by Mrs. Lydia Yose, on 
Milk and Congress streets, and at another well-known boarding-house 
in Franklin street, a few doors above the present location of the office 
of the Saturday Evening Gazette^ and also at the residences of several 
of the gentlemen interested. Messrs. Samuel Dexter, Thomas J. Eck- 
ley, Robert T. Paine, Abraham W. Fuller, Dr. Benjamin D. Greene, 
A. F. Picquet, subsequently appointed French Commercial Agent, Dr. 
Samuel Morrill, Jr.. and others were among the number. Benjamin 
Lynde Oliver, for many years one of the very best players in the Uni- 
ted States and the leading player in New England, who then resided 
at Salem, Mass., was occasionally present. Next to this gentleman 
Messrs. Dexter and Picquet Avere considered the strongest players. 
Mr. Eckley is spoken of as being ''the most scientific player, but 
exceedingly slow and tedious." Of the gentlemen previously named, 
Messrs. Dexter, Eckley, Paine, and Fuller, were members of the legal, 
profession, occupying offices in close proximity on State and Court 
streets, and they frequently visited each other to participate in the cases 
of White vs. Black or White vs. Bed. M. Picquet was a French gen-, 
tleman, a lawyer by profession, and came to America in 1825 or 1826 
to prosecute a suit at law for the recovery of property belonging to his 
family. He had also commanded a frigate in the French navy, and in 
1829 succeeded M. Desaze as French Commercial Agent. He was 
highly esteemed by all who knew him, and was much interested in 
Chess. After leaving Boston he removed to Philadelphia, at which 
place he died. 



American Chess. 369 

111 February, 1826, Mr. Maelzel arrived at New York, bringing with 
him the celebrated Automaton Chess-Player that had excited so much 
curiosity in the Old World, and his visit to Boston in the fall of the 
same year gave quite an impetus to Chess. All the newspapers printed 
at that time contained notices of the exhibition of the Android and 
allusions to the game of Chess, while the New England Galaxy^ pub- 
lished by Joseph T. Buckingham, who is still living, and the Colum- 
hian Centinel^ published by Benjamin Eussell, devoted large portions 
of their space to extended accounts of the Automaton and to articles 
upon Androids and sketches of the origin of Chess. 

In the spring of that year, Samuel H. Parker, well known as the 
publisher of the pioneer edition of the Waverley Novels, issued the 
second Chess Book published in Boston, entitled " An Analysis of the 
Game of Chess by Philidor." This work contained a number of dia- 
grams (wood cuts), and an edition of one thousand was printed, a num- 
ber of which were sold. Mr. Parker then occupied the store No. 164 
Washington street, at which place he did business for many years. By 
a fire that occurred in the building on the first of November, 1833, the 
balance of this edition of Phihdor was burned, and the plates and cuts 
were destro3^ed. In an article printed in the New England Oalaxy of 
April 28, 1826, the writer, after alluding to the exhibitions then being 
given by Maelzel in New York, thus notices this work : 

" The game of Chess is an interesting game, but not quite so fashionable in 
tliis good city of ours as we believe it is in New York and Philadelphia. 
Should the automaton be exhibited here, as it is presumed it will be, the 
curiosity of many will bo excited, and the desire to become acquainted with 
the game be more prevalent. Those who wish for instruction in a game 
which the philosopher Leibnitz classed among the sciences, will find Phili- 
dor's Analysis a useful guide. An edition of this work has lately been pub- 
lished by S. H. Parker, Boston, in a neat pocket volume, illustrated by 
diagrams, and critical remarks and notes. To the work is also prefixed The 
Morals of Chess, by Dr. Franklin, an essay, which though known to man}^ is 
probably unknown to many more, and may not inappropriately help to fill 
up this column." 

The essay is then given in full, and from the tone of the above 
remarks and the space allowed to the essay, an idea may be formed as 
to the degree of interest then felt in the game '^ classed among the 
sciences." 

In September of the same year (1826), Mr. Maelzel came to Boston 

16* 



370 Incidents in the History of 

with his Chess-player, rope-dancer, trumpeter, etc., and estabhshed 
himself at Julien Hall, at the corner of Milk and Congress streets, and 
adjoining the boarding-house kept by Mrs. Vose. The first exhibition 
was given on the evemng of September 13; the admission fee being 
fifty cents. At this time the automaton played ends of games only, in 
which, having the first move, the contest was generally forced to a 
favorable issue for the Turk. The Cerdmel^ of Sept. 16, contained an 
article relative to the exhibitions, from which the following extracts 
are made : 

" The skill of some of our best Chess-players has been exerted in contests 
with the turbaned automaton, but he has always proved the victor." — "Un- 
questionably Mr. Maelzel is an excellent player, and it may well be thought 
that any one who can beat him, will iiot be conquered by the automaton." 

In the issue of the same paper for Sept. 20, the first defeat of the 
Mussulman is thus chronicled : 

•' We add as an extraordinary fact, that on Monday the grave and skilful 
Che..s-player found a conqueror in a Bostonian, in one of his most favorite 
e7ids of games ; and was compelled to succumb, we believe for the first time 
since his arrival in America, any reports from the Commercial Emporium to 
the contrary notwithstanding. Those who saw the contest, say the Turk 
had the best of the game after several moves, but by a careless play lost his 
advantage and the game. He appears, however, to bear his loss with gravity, 
iind has since continued his successful career." 

Chess-players in those days were quite as tenacious of their Chess 
reputation as the same class of persons are at the present time, and the 
allusion to the " Commercial Emporium," in the paragraph last quoted, 
called forth a statement in the New York American to the effect that 
the automaton had been beaten at New York in two ends of games, 
by two gentlemen separately. In answer to this statement, the Centi- 
nel of Sept. 30, published the following : 

" The truth is, that the automaton has been conquered in Boston three 
times by three gentlemen, separately ; but, we believe, that in all the cases 
the successful players have been indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Maelzel in 
permitting them to take the first move, in games where success from such 
permission was inevitable, if the game was well played." 

As before stated, the automaton only played ends of games, the per- 
son who then inhabited the Turk, imparting life and motion to the 



American Chess. 371 

otherwise helpless figure, not possessing sufficient skill to contest entire 
games with the stronger players of either city, of whose force Maelzel 
could judge by private contests had with himself and assistant. At 
this time Maelzel was expecting the arrival of Schlumberger, the best 
assistant he ever had, from Paris, and as the rivalry between the 
players of the two cities increased, he addressed a communication to 
the editor of the Centinel^ dated Oct. 13, 1826, of which the following 
is the opening paragraph : 

"Sir: A writer in the New York American of Sept. 30th, having endea- 
vored to make it appear that my automaton was not able to cope with some 
of the N. Y. players in whole games, and as I think the players of Boston 
at least equal to those of New York, and being under obligations to them for 
their patronage and courtesy, I propose during the ensuing week to entertain 
them with entire games." 

For this purpose an exhibition was given each day at noon, the 
price of admission being raised to one dollar. Fearing that Schlum- 
berger, who had landed in New York, might not arrive in season for 
the performances thus announced, Maelzel engaged Mr. Samuel Dexter 
to play the automaton in case of his non-appearance, but with charac- 
teristic shrewdness refrained from initiating Mr. D. into the mysteries 
of the solemn Turk, while there existed a doubt as to his services being 
required. Schlumberger reached the city in time, however, and Mr. 
Dexter was obliged to remain in ignorance as to the modus operandi^ 
though, in common with the other gentlemen, he guessed that the 
operator was concealed in the chest. Mr. Dexter had met Schlum- 
berger at the Cafe de la Regence, Paris, and upon the arrival of the 
latter in Boston, a meeting with the prominent Chess-players took 
place at Mrs. Vose's, at whose house Schlumberger remained while in 
the city. At this meeting Mr. Dexter played the first pariie with 
Schlumberger, and failing to take advantage of an opportunity to make 
a drawn game came off second best. During the visit of the automa- 
ton, nearly all the leading amateurs played with it in public or met 
Schlumberger over the board in private, but none of them succeeded 
in w^inning a majority of games of him, although several proved trou- 
blesome opponents. 

Of the full games contested in public, the automaton was victorious 
in all instances save one. On this occasion no person appearing desi- 
rous of contending with the turbaned Turk, Mr. Maelzel requested a 
young man to play for ihe amuseuient of the company. The invitation 



372 Incidents in the History of 

was accepted, and, after a hard struggle, the hitherto invincible auto- 
maton was defeated, much to the chagrin of its proprietor. The victor 
was Dr. Benj. D. G-reene, who still feels justly proud of his conquest. 

A pamplilet upon the automaton was published, though by whom 
edited or printed, is not known. This may be called the third work 
upon Chess published in Boston. A poem, entitled ^' Address to the 
Automaton Chess-Play er," appeared at this time, and was copied into 
the New England Galaxy of Nor. 17, 1826. It is an exceedingly 
clever production, and was written by Miss Hannah F. Gould. The 
second and third editions of that lady's poems, published by Hilliard, 
G-ray & Co., in 1832 and 1835, contain the ^' Address," and it was 
reprinted in the Chess department of the Saturday Evening Gazette of 
June 5, 1858. The performances of the automaton in Boston closed 
October 24, 1826, and with its departure terminates all pubHc record 
of the progress of Chess for many years. 

From the year 1826 to the year 1839, the gentlemen previously men- 
tioned, met occasionally for play, and from time to time other knights 
entered the lists to do their devoir for Caissa. Among these may be 
named Daniel Greenleaf Ingraham, Ivers J. Austin, Max Isnard, who 
succeeded M. Picquet as French Consul, in 1836, Peter Kielchen, ap- 
pointed Eussian Consul during the same year, Amos Baker, Dr. Peter 
Renton, A. D. Parker, Dr. Le Baron Russell, and George Hammond. 
Benjamin Lynde Oliver moved to Boston from Salem in the year 
1830, and his presence and devotion to the game, proved of great and 
lasting benefit to the cause of Chess. The only event of importance 
occurring during this period of twelve years, of which any information 
has been obtained, was the second visit of Mr. Maelzel with the auto- 
maton, in 1833. The exhibitions at that time were given at Concert 
Hall, on Court street, commencing June 1st, and closing August 23d, 
1883. The incidents of this second visit are scanty, and may be easily 
related. At one of the exhibitions, no person offering to play, Mr. A. 
D. Parker proposed to try a full game with the automaton, to which 
Maelzel consented. The game lasted during the time usually allotted 
for the performance of the automaton, and was then left unfinished, 
the Mussulman having the advantage. Mr. George Hammond called 
upon Maelzel one day, and requested the pleasure of a game with his 
turbaned companion. Mr. Maelzel acceded to his request, and con- 
ducting him to an inner apartment, placed him face to face with the 
conqueror of emperors and princes. The game was of short duration, 
the grim Turk adding yet another to his numerous victories, while his 



American Chess. 373 

youthful antagonist consoled himself with the reflection that he had at 
least played Chess with the celebrated automaton. Schlumberger again 
met in private many of his former competitors for Caissan honors, and 
others who had come upon the field since his former visit, stood ready 
to break a lance with him in the bloodless fight. It is to be regretted 
that no records of the parties then played, have been preserved, though 
it is averred that Mr. Oliver successfully defended the Evans Gambit, 
but recently introduced at that time, against Schlumberger himself. 
Schlumberger entertained a very high opinion of Mr. Ohver's play, 
and named him as one of the five best players he had met in America. 
The exhibitions of the Conflagration of Moscow, the Automaton 
Chess-Player, etc., proved very successful. That the patronage be- 
stowed was properly appreciated by Mr. Maelzel is evinced by the fol- 
lowing paragraph from his advertisement, as printed in the Evening 
Transcript of July 29, 1833. 

" Mr. Maelzel begs leave to state that he feels very grateful for the gene- 
rous patronage he has received from the inhabitants of Boston and its vici- 
nity, and as a small token of his gratitude and regard intends to devote the 
proceeds of next Saturday Evening for the Benefit of the Poor. The 
avails of that evening will be paid over to the Mayor of the City for him to 
appropriate in such a manner as he may think proper." 

The exhibition was subsequently postponed to Monday evening, 
August 5, and the result is thus stated in the Transcript of August 9. 

" The amount paid over to the Mayor of the City, by Mr. Maelzel, for the 
benefit of the poor, was $116 25, being the proceeds of his exhibition on 
Monday evening last." 

In the year 1839, by invitation of Mr. Daniel Greenleaf In graham, 
then teacher of an excellent private school, a number of amateurs com- 
menced a series of meetings for the practice of Chess, at his residence 
in Cedar street. There was no Club organized, although some of the 
gentlemen gave that name to the meetings which were continued for 
nearly a year. There were usually present, Messrs. Benj. L. Oliver, Dr. 
B. D. Greene, Thos. J. Eckley, Abraham W^ Fuller, Ivors J. Austin, 
the French and Russian Consuls, Max Isnard, and Mr. Kielchen, and 
Mr. Greenleaf. Subsequently these gentlemen met occasionally at the 
house of Mr. Eckley in Walnut street, at Mr. Isnard' s in Winthrop 
Place, and at Mr. Ingraham's school-room in Chestnut street. 

During this year (1839) Mr. Samuel Dexter removed to Washington, 



374 Incidents in the History of 

D. C, and was subsequently chosen President of the Chess Club at 
that place. He there met the prominent players of the day, and in his 
various matches maintained the reputation he had acquired in Boston as 
a player of great originality and superior force. A Journal, commenced 
by Mr. Oliver in the year 1838, and continued until his decease in 1843^ 
presents the only continuous record of the proceedings of the Ama- 
teurs of Chess in Boston that can now be found, and in chronicling the 
doings of the ensuing five years, a synopsis of this Journal will be 
given, together with such extracts as the limits of the present sketch 
will permit. From these records may be formed a fair estimate of the 
relative chess strength of the various gentlemen mentioned, who were 
at that time the leading players in Boston. 

The date of the first entry in the Journal, alluding to Chess, is July 
11, 1838. On that day Mr. Oliver won three out of four games played 
upon even terms with Mr. Picquet, and one giving the odds of Pawn 
and two moves to the same gentleman. In November of that year, he 
(Mr. 0.) contested a match of three games at the odds of Pawn and 
two moves with Mr. Picquet, which match was to decide whether he 
could give Mr. P. those odds. This was decided in Mr. Oliver's favor, 
he scoring two to his opponent's one. He adds, in his Journal : 

'* I take away my Chessmen and am determined to trouble myself about 
Chess no more, with any one who cannot beat Mr. Picquet. Of this there 
is but little prospect, as I know of no player who is a match for him this side 
of Washington, and I much doubt whether Mr. O'Sullivan* is his equal, 
although when they played three games a few weeks ago, they came oft' 
even." 

During 1839 there are but few allusions to chess, principally results 
of play with Mr. Fuller, Dr. Dodd and Dr. Greene, to all of whom Mr 
Ohver gave the Knight, winning a majority of games. He made a 
*' standing challenge to the Chess-players, without any exception, to give 
any one a Knight." Mention is also made of the " Chess Club," refer- 
ring to the meetings held at Mr. Ingraham's. 

In March, 1840, Mr. 0. ^' beat Mr. Fuller very much at the odds of 
the Knight," and also won a match of five games of Mr. F., giving him 
the same odds. In April is recorded the fact that Mr. Isnard won two 
out of three games of Mr. Fuller ''for the first time." Dr. G-reene beat 

* The Chess-Player's Chronicle, Yol. VII., contains several games played 
by Mr. O'SulHvan. 



American Chess. 375 

Mr. Oliver six in a match often games, receiving the odds of the Knight. 
The other entries of that year give results of parties contested at odds 
vrith the same players. 

In 1841, the principal entries in the Journal refer to two matches 
played w^ith Mr. J, W. Schulten, a gentleman of world-wide reputation 
as a Chess-player ; and as the account of these parties by one of the 
participants cannot but prove interesting, the entries are copied entire. 

Sept. 8. — Mr. Isnard tells me that Mr. Schulten, the great Chess-player, is 
ill the city, and wishes to play Chess v^ith me. I agree. Mr. I. calls and 
introduces him to me, with Mr. Yogel. He has beaten Mr. O'Sullivan, and 
Mr. Yezin, of Philadephia. I meet Mr. Schulten at 2 o'clock at Mr. Isnard's 
room, and play four games of Chess with him. The first is drawn ; the next 
I beat easily ; the two next he beats. We have agreed to play twenty-one 
games. 

Sept. 9. — Meet Mr. Schulten and Mr. Yogel at Mr. Isnard's. We play a 
number of games, and I now lead one game on the whole match. 

Sept. 10. — Play Chess with Mr. Schulten ; we have now played twenty 
games of the match, of which I have beaten twelve and he eight. The last 
four I beat in succession. 

Oct. 6 — Mr. Isnard tells me that Mr. Schulten is desirous of his revenge 
at Chess, and that he is coming to Boston with Mr. Yezin, of Philadelphia. 
Mr. Yezin gives Mr. Picquet the Pawn and move, or two moves, and is per- 
haps the strongest player in the United States, though he has been beaten by 
Mr. Schulten. 

Oct. 8. — -Gro to Mr. Isnard's and find there Mr. Schulten and Mr. Yezin, of 
Philadelphia, wlio, Mr Schulten tells me, has come on for the express pur- 
pose of seeing me play. I play with Mr. Schulten the beginning of a second 
match of twenty-one games. He beats me the first at my gambit ; I beat the 
three next. In the afternoon we play two games, one drawn and one he 
beats. 

Oct. 9 — I beat Mr. Schulten five games ; he beats me three ; we now stand 
eight to five in my favor. In the afternoon, go to Dr. Greene's, where Mr. 
Schulten beats me four times in succession, which I partly suspect was 
owing to the men. We now stand nine to eiglit. 

Oct. 11. — Play Chess witli Mr. Schulten; he beats two and I beat one ; 
thus he wins the match. We afterwards play a number of games at our 
gambits,* and I beat the most, three to one. 

* In a memorandum book belonging to Mr. Oliver, ten or twelve opening 
moves are recorded, and called bv him "Oliver's Gambit." An examination 



376 Incidents in the History of j 

Oct. 12. — Play Chess witli Mr. Yezin; lie beats the first two, and I beat 
the last two. But he declines play ing more, and I am persuaded of my supe- 
rior force to him. Mr. Schulten afterwards requests me to play his gambit a 
few times, which I do ; he beats three or four games, and I beat the last. I 
tell Mr. Yezin my own opinion is that I can beat Mr. Schulten five to four. 

These matches with Mr. Schulten excited a lively interest in the cir- 
cle of Chess-players, and quite a number of gentlemen were present at 
the different meetings. It is to be regretted that the score of the moves 
in these parties (taken down by Mr. OUver himself) cannot be found 
amongst his papers, although diligent search has been made. 

In July, 1842, Mr. Oliver met Dr. Eussell at Mr. Isnard's, and played 
five games with him, giving the Knight, and winning three. In 
August, a Mr. G-oldsmith visited Boston and played with Dr. Greene, 
and also with Mr. Isnard, the result being in favor of the Bostonians. 
Mr. Kielchen won three games of Mr. Oliver, receivmg the odds of a 
Eook. 

In September Mr. Isnard made a tour to the South, and played Chess 
with the French Consul-Qeneral at New York, and also with Mr. 
Schulten. Mr. Oliver won a match of twenty-seven games, giving the 
Knight to Mr. Isnard, the score being — Oliver, 15 ; Isnard, 12. 

In October, Mr. Oliver won a match of five games with Mr. Thomp- 
son, giving him the Knight, and Pawn and move alternately. During 
the latter part of the month he (Mr. 0.) visited Philadelphia; while 
there he won a match of five games of Mr. Vezin, although the latter ^ 
gentleman beat him a majority of games during his stay. He also : 
played with several other players, giving them odds, and was success- 
ful. In December, Mr. Oliver became acquainted with Mr. Hammond 
and visited him at his rooms in Pearl street, where he also met with 
Dr. Renton. 1 

In January, 1843, Mr. Oliver played five games with Mr. Hammond, j 
giving him the Queen's Knight, and winning three to Mr. H.'s one, and 
one drawn. In May, Mr. Eugene Rousseau visited Boston, and the 
account of his meeting with Mr. Oliver is thus entered in the Journal : 

of this opening proves it to be a variation of the Allgaier Gambit at the first 
player's eighth move in the second game as given in Staunton's Handbook, pp. . 
306, 307, where Mr. Oliver, instead of playing 8. Kt. to Q 3., gives 8. Kt. , 
takes K. B. P., followed by 9. B. takes Kt (ch.), etc. This is undoubtedly the | 
opening referred to as his gambit ; and by Mr. Schulten's Gambit is probably I 
meant the variation introduced by Mr. S into the King's Bishop's Gambit, and 
given in Staunton's Handbook, p. 321. 



American Chess. 377 

May 15. — At about nine o'clock, a gentleman called on rae and asked me 
if I was Mr. Oliver; on my replying in the affirmative, he again asked me if I 
was the Oliver who was an amateur of Chess. I told him I was the person. 
He said he was Mr. Kousseau, of New Orleans, a player of Chess, and took 
the liberty of introducing himself. He said he was going out hi the Hibernia 
to-morrow, and invited me to his room. I immediately called on Mr. Eckley 
and introduced him, and Mr. B. afterwards came to his room. We commenced 
playing ; he had the first move and played the King's Pawn two ; I played 
King's Knight's Pawn, etc. I lost the first game ; the second game I had the 
move and played my gambit with him, which he defended with the Kook 
instead of the Knight. This was a drawn game. The third game he lost. 
In the afternoon we played, and he won the first three games ; I then 
played my gambit and beat one easily, and also another. He then beat 
one more. 

May 16. — I call on Mr. Rousseau by appointment and play two more 
games, both of which I win. The first was in his attempting to defend the 
gambit by moving out the Bishop to attack the Rook's Pawn. The second 
was the King's Pawn one. He complained of being hurried for time, and 
said I ought not to be proud of the games. I told him I was not, but was 
pleased at beating him, because I hoped to see him again on his return from 
France He presented me with two numbers of the Palamede." 

Mr. Oliver died suddenly from disease of the heart, in the following 
June, leaving a place vacant in the Chess circles of Boston, to be filled 
by some rising amateur. 

Besides the amateurs with whom Mr. Oliver was in the habit of 
meeting during the five years from 1838 to 1843, there were a number 
of gentlemen who assembled occasionally at each other's houses or 
rooms to enjoy themselves at Chess. Amongst this number may be 
mentioned, Messrs. Russell, Bullard, Hay ward, Willard, Dexter, Dr. 
Adams, and others. In the year 1841, Nathaniel Dearborn published 
the fourth Chess Book issued in Boston. It was entitled The Chess- 
Player^ and consisted of selections from Franklin, Philidor, Kenny, 
and George Walker. 

The first Chess Club in Boston was formed in the year 1845. In 
October of that year, measures were taken by several gentlemen 
interested in Chess, to bring the amateurs of the city together. About 
twenty names having been obtained, a preliminary meeting was held 
on Monday evening, October 27th, at the United States Hotel. Much 
interest was manifested in the project, and Dr. Le Baron Russell, Max 
Isnard, and Gleorge Hammond were appointed a Committee to draft a 



378 Incidents in the History of 

Constitution for the Club. The second meeting was held at the same 
place, on the evening of November 3d, at which time the Committee 
previously appointed reported a Constitution, and it was adopted. 
Messrs. Lewis Bullard, Max Isnard, and G-eorge Hammond were 
then chosen a Committee to procure and furnish a suitable apartment 
for the use of the Club, and to notify the gentlemen at such time as the 
same would be ready for occupancy. These gentlemen leased a room 
in the building at the corner of Tremont street and Montgomery place, 
at an annual rent of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and furnished 
the same with the appurtenances necessary for a Chess Club. The Chess 
tables, some six or eight in number, were of pine, with the board 
painted upon each, and a drawer for the pieces. Several of these 
tables are still in the possession of members of the old Club, who regard 
them as mementoes of the first Chess association in Boston. 

Due notice having been given through the columns of the Boston 
Evening Transcript^ the first meeting of the Boston Chess Club was 
held on Friday evening, November 14th, at No. 1 Montgomery place, 
sixteen members being present. The action of the Committee was 
approved, and the following-named gentlemen were elected officers of 
the Club : President, Dr. Z. B. Adams ; Vice-President, Max Isnard ; 
Treasurer, G-eorge Hammond ; Kecording Secretary, Lewis Bullard ; 
Corresponding Secretary, Dr. L. B. Russell. 

' This Club was restrictive in the admission of members, each appli- 
cant for membership being obliged to receive the vote of three-fourths 
of the number present at a regular meeting. The annual subscription 
was fixed at ten dollars, and the Constitution provided for a formal 
dissolution of the Club, at any time when the expenses could not be 
defrayed by the yearly assessment. Regular monthly meetings were 
also to be held, though it was subsequently found difficult to obtain a 
quorum for the transaction of business. The room was open every 
day from 8 o'clock a.m. until 12 o'clock at night. Smoking was not 
allowed in the room, and '^ all playing for money, and all betting upon 
games, or the playing of any other game than Chess," was strictly 
prohibited. At an early meeting of the Club, the Executive Committee 
were " instructed to procure for the use of the Club, Leiois' Treatise 
on Chess and the London Chess Chronicley And it was also voted 
that the Rules of Chess given in Lewis^ Treatise be adopted. Stanlej^'s 
Chess- Player's Magazine was afterwards added to the list of books, and 
the Illustrated London News procured. This Club in a short time 
numbered about forty members, of whom may be mentioned Messrs 



I 



American Chess. 379 

Adams, Isnard, Hammond, Bullard, Russell, J. W. Clark, Geo. P. Hay- 
ward, B. Austin, S. Willard, C. Stodder, I. J. Austin, Dr. B. D. Greene, 
A. D. Parker, A. W. Fuller, J. Schouler, S. Wells, E. Tyler, P. P. F. 
Degrand, B. Eolker, C. L. Bartlett, C. Thatcher, Dr. H. Eichardson, C. 
G. Kendall, Mr. Dexter, Dr. J. W. Stone, E. J. Weller, and B. A. 
Smith. Many of these gentlemen are members of the present Boston 
Chess Club. During the first year of its existence, great interest was 
manifested in the Club, and the meetings for play were well attended. 
In 1846, Mr. Charles H. Stanley visited Boston, and played a match 
with Mr. George Hammond, who was the leading player of the Club, 
and who holds the same position at the present time. The score of 
this match, as given in a communication to the Chess- Player's Ohroni" 
cle^ was Stanley 5, Hammond 2, drawn 2. Several of the parties were 
published in that serial, and also in Stanley's Magazine. But little can 
now be remembered respecting other matches played at the Club, with 
the exception of a match contested between Mr. George Hammond 
and Mr. Isnard. This match consisted of twenty-five games, to be 
played, five upon even terms, and five each at the odds of Pawn and 
move. Pawn and two moves, Knight, and Rook. The score of this 
match, as given in the Chess- Play ers Magazine^ was Hammond 19, 
Isnard 6. Mr. Hammond and Dr. B. D. Greene played frequently 
together, the total number of games being about two thousand^ princi- 
pally at the odds of the Knight given by Mr. H. These two gentlemen 
on one occasion devoted a whole day to Chess, and played forty -six 
games together. Mr. Hammond afterwards played four games with 
other members of the Club, thus making his score fifty games. Dr. 
Richardson introduced the novelty of four-handed Chess, and also 
played the same with other amateurs. 

At the expiration of the first year, many of the members failed to 
renew their subscriptions, and during 1847, but very few assembled 
for play. At the annual meeting in October, 1847, it was found that 
but eighteen gentlemen were wilhng to continue, amongst whom were 
nearly all the original projectors, and the Club languished from that 
date until July, 1848, when it was formally dissolved, and the property 
belonging to the Club disposed of by private auction among the eight 
or ten remaining members. The closing of the Club was deeply 
regretted by those who were attached to the game, and interested in 
its extension ; and in consequence of its termination, the amateurs of 
the city were again scattered, and met only occasionally for practice. 
During the nine ensuing years, but little can be said of the progress of 



380 Incidents in the History of 

Chess. A few members of the old Club were in the habit of playing 
together at the United States Hotel, and other amateurs of the game 
would sometimes be fortunate enough to meet a rival in private circles. 
There was not any effort made, however, to bring the Chess-players 
together again, although the true Chess spirit still lived, and new men 
were entering the arena. 

With the opening of the year 1857, the first number of the Chess 
Monthly was issued. The publication of this serial brought about results 
even more marvellous than those produced by the ^' whistle shrill " of 
Roderick Dhu. Amateurs of Chess started up on all sides, and pressed 
forward to enter the ranks of the Caissan army. Early in the year the 
National Chess Congress was projected. The announcement of this 
meeting of the leading players to contend for the championship, was 
the bugle call that aroused the knights of Caissa, and bade them arm 
for the contest. Then came the bustle of preparation. There was a 
brushing up of ^^ openings" and " endings," an overhauling of standard 
Chess works, a thorough testing of numberless '^variations," and much 
practice at divers '' positions." Boston was not idle, and some half- 
dozen of her players were present at the Congress, where the perform- 
ances of Messrs. Hammond and Richardson, the latter fresh from 
contests with Harrwitz at the Cafe de la Regence, won for them a 
deservedly high position amongst the foremost players of the country, 
and established a reputation for Bostonian Chess. 

Meanwhile, lovers of Chess wondered why there were not any 
regular meetings for the practice of the game, and appeals to the 
players, urging them to unite and organize a Club, were made through 
the columns of the Evening Ti^anscript in connection with notices 
of the new magazine and items of Chess news. In September, by 
invitation of Mr. E. J. Weller, several gentlemen assembled for play 
at No. 8 Hayward place. These meetings were continued through 
October, and on the return of Messrs. Hammond, Richardson, and 
others from the Congress in New York, the circle was enlarged, and 
in November numbered twelve. The gentlemen who then met, were 
Messrs. Hammond, Richardson, Rabuske, Broughton, S. Willard, Smal- 
ley. Chapman, Weller, Everett, Keyes, and G-. H. and C. F. Howard.* 

* Of the above named gentlemen, Messrs. Everett, Rabuske, Weller and 
the two Howards, had been in the habit of playing together and with other 
amateurs, during the early part of the year, at the United States Hotel and 
at other places. 



American Chess. 381 

Animated with a true Chess spirit, Dr. Richardson proposed that these 
meetings should be made pubhc, and all amateurs invited to join, with 
the intention of forming a Club. This proposition was heartily con- 
curred in by the other gentlemen, and pursuant to a notice published 
in the daily newspapers, a meeting was held at No. 8 Hayward place, 
on Friday evening, December 11th, 1857. About thirty gentlemen 
were present, being a much more numerous attendance than was 
anticipated. Dr. Richardson was called upon to preside, and Mr. 
George W. Smalley served as Secretary. All present were enthusiastic 
respecting the establishment of a Chess Club ; and a statement was 
made that a room in the house at which the meeting was held, could 
be obtained three afternoons and evenings of each week, for the mode- 
rate rent of one hundred dollars per annum, including lighting and 
heating. A great obstacle to the formation of all clubs — namely, heavy 
expenses and a necessarily large assessment — would thus be removed, 
and although the room was quite unsuitable for the purposes of the 
Club, it was thought better to make a beginning there, as the Club 
could, at any time, remove to more commodious quarters, should the 
accession of members and consequent increase of funds warrant the 
change. Messrs. Smalley, Broughton, and Everett were chosen a 
Committee to draft a Constitution and By-Laws, and the meeting 
adjourned to meet at the same place on the following Friday. 

The second meeting was held December 18th, some twenty gentle- 
men attending. Mr. George W. Smalley, from the Committee 
appointed at the previous meeting, reported a Constitution and B}^- 
Laws that, with some slight modifications, were adopted. The annual 
assessment was fixed at five dollars ; and all betting upon games, or 
playing for stakes, or the playing of any other game than Chess, were 
strictly prohibited. No smoking or refreshments .were allowed in the 
room. The laws of the game, as given in Staunton's Handbooh^ were 
adopted. The Constitution provided for the election of a President, 
Secretary, Treasurer, and an Executive Committee of four, at the 
annual meeting of the Club, which was fixed for the second Tuesday 
in January. As that meeting would not take place for several weeks, 
and it being necessary that the Club should be properly represented 
during the interval, Dr. Horace Richardson was chosen President, 
George W. Smalley, Secretary, and Edwin J. Weller, Treasurer. The 
regular meetings for play were on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday of 
each week, from four to ten o'clock p.m. The tables were usually all 
occupied, and the interest in the game continued to increase. Many 



382 Incidents in the History of 

of the members of the Club of 1846 came forward to join the new 
organization, and all doubts as to its success were dispelled. 

The first annual meeting of the Club took place on Tuesday evening, 
January 12th, 1858, the business transacted being the election of 
officers for the current year. The following named gentlemen were 
chosen : 

Dr. Horace Richardson, President. 

G-EORGE W. Smalley, Secretary. 

Edwin J. Weller, Treasurer. 

George Hammond, William R. Brougiiton, Dr. James W. Stone 
and Theodore Rabuske, Executive Committee. 

A tournament was originated at the meeting, the prize to be a photo- 
graph of Morphy and Paulsen playing Chess, with a number of promi- 
nent players grouped around the table. Sixteen entries were obtained, 
the players were paired, and the contest commenced soon after. This 
tournay excited much interest in the Club, and many of the games were 
afterwards published. Various circumstances occurred to delay its 
conclusion and the final round has not been commenced, though a year 
has elapsed. In February a match of twenty-five games was contested 
between Messrs. Greorge Hammond and Preston Ware, Jr., Mr. Ham- 
mond giving the odds of Rook five games, Knight five games. Pawn 
and two moves five games, Pawn and move five games, and five to be 
played upon equal terms. The result was as follows : 

Mr. Hammond. Mr. "Ware. Drawn. 

Odds of Rook 5 1 

'' '' Knight 3 2 

" '' Pawn and two moves 4 1 

" ^'' Pawn and move . 3 2 

Even games ...... 3 2 

13 12 1 

Mr. Hammond contested four games against Messrs. J. W. and H. 
N. Stone, in consultation, winning two, drawing one, and losing one. 
A number of games were also played between Mr. H. and Messrs. 
Richardson and Rabuske, consulting. Other matches occurred from 
time to time between the prominent players, the details of which have 
not been preserved. 

In April the subject of establishing a Chess column in some one of 



American Chess. 383 

the local weekly newspapers was broached and was received with great 
favor.* Arrangements were accordingly made with Mr. W. W. Clapp, 
Jr., proprietor of the Saturday Evening Gazette^ and on the 1st of May, 
1858, a department, devoted to Chess, was commenced in that paper 
by Messrs. J. Chapman and W. H. Kent, with the valuable assistance 
and cooperation of the leading players of the Club. The column in the 
Gazette was established for the purpose of publishing games played by 
members of the Boston Chess Club, and of placing before its readers 
the best parties of the Chess masters of all countries, together with the 
current items of Chess news. In carrying out this design the conductors 
have endeavored and still do endeavor to render the column interesting 
and instructive to amateurs of the game, and have ever sought to 
advance the best interests of Chess. Simultaneous with the publication 
of the Chess column in the Gazette^ a Chess department was om- 
menced in the American Union^ conducted by Mr. J. A. Potter, of 
Salem, Mass. This latter was continued until the beginning of the 
present year (1859), when its pubhcation was suspended. 

In May Mr. W. E. Broughton, a member of the Executive Committee 
of the club, resigned his position on that committee, and Mr. W. H. 
Kent was chosen to fill the vacancy thus occasioned. Additions to the. 
list of members were made from time to time until the number reached 
thirty-six. With the increase of members, the unsuitableness of the 
apartment occupied by the Club became more and more apparent, and 
it was evident that a removal to more commodious quarters would be 
absolutely necessary in order to still further enlarge the Club. As the 
room was to be closed during the months of July and August no 
decisive action was had, although it was the generally expressed desire 
of the members that some change should be made, and many amateurs 
intimated their intention of joining the Club as soon as a suitable room 
should be obtained. 

A meeting of the Executive Committee was held August 26, 1858, 
at which it was decided to remove to some apartment better adapted 
for the purposes of the Club, and Messrs. Smalley and Kent were 
appointed a sub-committee to obtain and furnish a suitable place. A 
special meeting of the Club was subsequently held, at which the action 
of the Executive Committee was approved and the sub-committee was 

* A Chess-column had previously been established in the Lynn Neius^ 
under the supervision of Messrs. Holden and Parsons, to which several mem- 
bers of the Boston Chess Club had contributed games and problems. 



384 Incidents in the History of 

requested to proceed at once in the discharge of its duties. A room in 
the building No. 289 Washington street was rented by the committee, 
and after being properly fitted and furnished, it was thrown open to the 
members and their friends on Saturday evening, September 18, 1858. 
The Evening Transcript of a subsequent date contained the subjoined 
account of the proceedmgs and description of the room : 

" After an interchange of greetings between the members, who expressed 
themselves as exceedingly pleased with the appearance of the new room, the 
President of the Clab, in a few appropriate remarks, welcomed the guests and 
congratulated the members upon now having a room worthy of the Club and 
of the noble game. 

" A brief statement was then made by one of the committee who had in 
charge the furnishing of the apartment, from which it appeared that the Club 
was in a very flourishing condition. The new room was furnished by the 
voluntary subscriptions of the members, who have responded cheerfully and 
liberally to the call for funds, and the regular fee for membership will, there- 
fore, cover all incidental expenses. After these remarks, the various tables 
were occupied for play, while groups of interested spectators watched the 
progress of the games with much interest. 

" The present apartment is spacious and well lighted, and is furnished in a 
neat and substantial style. The walls are papered in oak panels, and the fur- 
niture is in oak throughout. The Chess tables were made to order, witk Chess 
boards of the regular Club size upon them, the black squares being stained 
and forming a fine contrast to the oak ; each table has two drawers lined with 
baize for the reception of the pieces. The Chess-men are neatly turned from 
ebony and boxwood, and are of the real Staunton pattern. The arm chairs 
are of oak also, of exceedingly light and graceful style, the back and arms 
being of one piece of wood bent into proper shape, thus giving strength and 
durability to the chair. The floor is covered with a carpet of tasteful design, 
in green and wood colors, harmonizing with the surroundings. Two hand- 
some chandeliers add light and ornament to the room." 

At a meeting of the Executive Committee, held prior to the opening 
of the new room, Mr. G-eorge Hammond resigned his membership of 
said committee, and Mr. Preston Ware, Jr., was chosen in his place. A 
meeting of the Club occurred on the 20th of September, when it was 
voted that the room be kept open for play every day and evening 
during the week. The opportune removal imparted new life and vigor 
to the Club and large accessions were made to its members, the number 
at the time of closing the old room being speedily doubled and in less 
than six months nearly trebled. Several tournaments were arranged 



American Chess. 385 

and a number of matches were played. The nucleus of a library was 
formed by donations of the standard Chess works from various mem- 
bers, and measures were taken to increase the number of volumes. 

The second annual meeting of the Club was held on the evening of 
January 11th, 1859. After remarks by the President, congratulatory 
upon the success of the Club thus far, and suggestive of the policy to 
be pursued, followed by the reading of the Eeport of the Treasurer, 
exhibiting a handsome surplus in the treasury, the election of officers 
took place, and the following named gentlemen were chosen : 

Dr. Horace Eichardson, President. 
George W. Smalley, Secretary. 

Preston Ware, Jr., Treasurer, 

Dr. James W. Stone, William H. Kent, Theodore Eabuske, 
Leister M. Clark, Executive Committee. 

The Boston Chess Club is, numerically, one of the largest organiza- 
tions of its kind in the United States, and numbers amongst its mem- 
bers players of marked ability and genius, and problemists whose names 
are famihar to the Chess circles of both hemispheres. The future pros- 
pects of the Club are bright and auspicious, as there is an esprit de corps 
among the members, that will not be deterred by obstacles nor be suf- 
fered to lie dormant under the influence of a mistaken conservatism. 
There is the materiel in the Club to make it a ^' living, working asso- 
ciation," and there is not only a disposition but a determination so 
to do. 

The foregoing sketch of Chess in Boston, particularly the portion 
prior to the account of the Chess Club of 1857, has been prepared from 
such memoranda and information as could be gleaned from those ama- 
teurs of Chess who participated actively in the doings therein recorded, 
and it is offered to the readers of this volume without any pretensions 
whatever, on the part of the writer. 



VI.— BENJAMIN LYNDE OLIYEE. 

Benjamin Lynde Oliver was born at Marblehead, Mass., September 
14th, 1788. He was the son of Eev. Thomas Fitch Oliver, who was at 
that time Eector of the Episcopal Church at Marblehead, whither he had 
removed from Providence, E. I., at which latter place he was first settled 

17 



386 Incidents in the History of 

as minister. His mother was a daughter of WiUiam Pynchon, a distin- 
guished lawyer of Salem, Mass., and an immediate descendant of the 
family of that name who were among the original settlers of the colony. 

The subject of this sketch, was a great-grandson of Andrew Oliver, 
Lieutenant-Grovernor of the Province of Massachusetts (1770-74), 
and a grandson of Andrew Ohver, a gentleman of considerable scientific 
attainments and a scholar and writer of repute, who was also a judge 
of the Court of Common Pleas for Essex County, which office he held 
from the year 1761 to the date of the American Eevolution. Peter 
Oliver, for a long time Judge, and during several years Chief-Justice of 
the Superior Court of the Province of Massachusetts, who will be 
remembered as one of the refugees, was a brother of the Lieutenant- 
G-overnor, and consequently great-uncle to Benjamin Lynde Oliver. 

For four generations back, commencing with the present, the family 
may be regarded as Chess-players, and it is believed that the Lieutenant- 
Grovernor was also familiar witli the game, though upon this point 
nothing positive can be ascertained. Doctor Benjamin Lynde Oliver, of ■ 
Salem, an uncle of the Mr. Oliver, under immediate notice, was a Chess- 
player of extensive reputation, and it is not unlikely that the nephew 
received the benefit of his instruction. Other members of the family 
have been interested in the game and have played more or less, but these 
two, the uncle and nephew, acquired the most celebrity ; indeed the 
nephew was, at the time of his decease, one of the strongest players in 
the United States and the leading player in New England, which posi- 
tion he had also held for m.any years previous. 

While his son was quite yoimg, the Kev. Mr. Oliver moved from 
Marblehead to Garrison Forest, near Baltimore, Md., to assume the 
rectorship of the church at that place. ' He died there in the year 1797, 
his son being then nine years old. After his decease the family 
returned to Salem, Mass., where they subsequently resided. The fol- 
lowing incident, related of young Benjamin Lynde and occurring at 
that time, furnishes unmistakable evidence that he had already become 
quite a proficient in Chess. 

His grandfather. Judge Andrew Oliver, gave a dinner party to a 
number of friends, and after the cloth had been removed, several of the 
company wishing to witness a game at Chess, the host sent for his grand- 
son to play with him. The boy came, dehghted at the opportunity, and 
after a severe contest, the youth of ten years succeeded in conquering 
the grandsire of nearly seventy. The gratification experienced by the 
boy upon this occasion can easily be imagined, and it may also be sup- 



American Chess. 387 

posed that the grandfather bore his defeat as a gentleman Chess-player 
should. 

Of the boyhood and youth of Mr. Oliverj but little can now be learned. 
He was always reserved and retiring in his manners, and seldom, if ever, 
mingled with the other boys in their games, preferring to amuse him- 
self He was, however, during the whole of his life, fond of athletic 
sports and exercises, and is said to have possessed great muscular 
strength. Through the influence of the late Mr. Chief- Justice Story, 
who was a connexion of the family, by marriage, he commenced the 
study of law in the office of Judge Putnam at Salem, Mass., and after 
the usual course of preparation, began its practice at that place in the 
year 1810. 

He brought to his profession a keen power of analysis, a mathemati- 
cal regularity and a comprehensive knowledge of the intricacies and 
subtleties of the law, that would have won for him a high position at 
the bar, had not his peculiarity of character and his retiring disposition 
kept him comparatively aloof from the world. Several of his arguments 
have been reported at length in the Massachusetts Law-Eeports, and 
afford ample evidence of the possession of talents of a high order. 

In addition to his efforts at the bar, Mr. Oliver was the author of a 
number of miscellaneous works of considerable note. In 1818 he 
published " Hints for an Essay on the Pursuit of Happiness. (Designed 
for common use.)" He subsequently edited ^' The Law Summary" 
and '^ Story's Pleadings," and published a* valuable work upon ''Con- 
veyancing," of which latter several editions have been printed. In 1832 
he issued " The Rights of an American Citizen, with a Commentary on 
State Eights, and on the Constitution and Policy of the United States." 
A copy of this work was forwarded to M. Thiers, then Minister of 
Foreign Affairs in France, and the author received a letter from that 
distinguished statesman, in which the production is highly complimented. 
Although Mr. Oliver did not take any active part in politics, still he 
wrote many able political pamphlets that were published anonymously, 
and were received with marked consideration by the pubHc. He also 
edited the Salem Observer during the first year of its existence (1823), 
and was afterwards a contributor to its columns. With the theory of 
music he was quite familiar ; was possessed of a refined musical taste, 
and composed many pieces. One or two musical works, comprising 
his own compositions, principally songs, have been published. 

Mr. Oliver was married at Salem, Mass., in the year 1827, and moved 
to Boston in 1830, residing first in Acorn street and subsequently in 



388 Incidents in the History of 

Eliot street. He continued the practice of the law till his decease, 
devoting himself exclusively to office business. His office was in State 
street, and in the immediate vicinity were the offices of Messrs. Dexter, 
Fuller, Paine, and other Chess-players, with whom he frequently enjoyed 
a game at Chess. During the month of September, 1841, Mr. J. W. 
Schulten, who still enjoys a wide reputation as a Chess-player, visited 
Boston, by invitation of Max Isnard, French Consul at that place, 
for the purpose of contesting a match at Chess Avith Mr. Oliver. This 
match was won by Mr. Oliver. The following month Mr. Schulten 
returned to Boston, accompanied by Mr. Yezin of Philadelphia, one of 
the foremost Chess men of the time, to play another match with Mr. 
Oliver. This contest was decided in favor of Mr. Schulten. Mr. Vezin 
and Mr. Oliver also contested four games, each winning two. In the 
autumn of 1842 Mr. Oliver visited Philadelphia and met the players of 
that city at the Athenasum. He played a number of games with Mr. 
Vezin, the final result being in favor of Mr. Yezin, though Mr. Oliver 
won a match of five games against this gentleman. He won a majority 
of games from other players at the Athenasum to w^hom he gave odds. 
In May, 1843, Mr. Eugene Rousseau, of New Orleans, came to Boston 
to take the steamer for Europe and called upon Mr. Oliver. Several 
parties were contested between them with a slight advaiitage in favor 
of Mr. Ohver. 

During his residence in Boston he played frequently with the leading 
amateurs, Messrs. Dexter, Picquet, Greene, Fuller, Paine, Isnard, Eckley, 
Ingraham, Hammond, Russell, and others. ' With Mr. Dexter he played 
upon even terms ; to Mr. Picquet he gave the odds of Pawn and two 
moves, and to the others the Queen's Knight. On the occasions of 
Maelzel's visits to Boston with the Automaton Chess-player, he met 
Schlumberger, who played the automaton, quite often in private, and 
they participated in a large number of games. Mr. Oliver did not play 
with the Automaton in public. Schlumberger pronounced Mr. Oliver 
one of the five best players in the United States. 

During the later years of his life Mr. Oliver resided at Maiden, a few 
miles from Boston, walking to and from the city regularly. He was 
troubled for a number of years with disease of the heart, and died from 
that cause, Sunday morning, June 18, 1843, at the age of fifty-five 
years. The day previous to his decease he had attended to the busi- 
ness of his office, walking into the city as was his custom, and during 
the evening appeared in his usual health. It is a somewhat singular 
coincidence that both uncle and nephew should have died from the same 



American Chess. 389 

disease, Dr. Benjamin Lynde Oliver, previously mentioned as a Chess- 
pla3^er of distinction, having deceased in the year 1835, also from heart 
complaint. 

Mr. Oliver was indefatigably industrious and a man of extensive and 
varied reading and of great learning. He is spoken of as affable and 
courteous in his manners, though of a retiring disposition, and all who 
enjoyed his acquaintance, remember him as an agreeable companion, an 
accomplished gentleman, and a large-hearted, upright man. As a 
Chess-player he was cool and self-possessed; rarely, if ever, com- 
mitted an oversight, and could never be found inattentive. He always 
placed a proper value upon his game, and played to win. In analysis 
he was very thorough, and his combinations, though lacking the bril- 
liancy of other amateurs, were sound and instructive, His careful 
attention to the details of the game enabled him to take advantage of 
any error of his antagonists, and made him a formidable opponent even 
to the best players. He was exceedingly fond of the game, and gave 
much of his time and attention to its study. In his Journal he writes 
at various times, '' I am resolved to play no more Chess for eight or nine 
months," or "I am determined to trouble myself about Chess no more 
with any one who cannot beat Mr. Picquet;" — but the temptation to 
resume proves too strong, and the entries of the following week allude 
to his playing another match with Mr. Picquet or giving the Knight to 
Dr. G-reene, or Mr. Fuller, or some other amateur. Mr. Oliver's pre- 
sence in Boston, and example as a player, together with his well-earned 
reputation, which was regarded with pride by his contemporaries, 
undoubtedly did much to foster and encourage the cultivation of Chess, 
and the devotees of the game to-day should cherish and honor his 
memory as the leading Chess-player of New England in former years. 



VII.— LOWENTHAL'S VISIT TO AMEPJCA. 

It is not my purpose, in this retrospect of my visit to the United 
States, to touch on the impression I received of the political and com- 
mercial greatness of the powerful republic of the West. Writing with 
a definite object, I confine myself as much as possible to my Chess 
experience of America; but I may say, that I never saw a country 
which gave me such an idea of growing power and importance, nor 
one so well fitted to become the home of the exile. The cordial man- 



390 Incidents in the History of 

ners of the people, their open-handed hospitahty, and free institutions, 
all combine to make the wanderer feel himself at home; while the 
spreading commerce and vast undeveloped resources of the country, 
open up to him a profitable field of labor, and promise, in return for his 
industry, an honorable independence. In the States I have met with 
men of many nations, and of all professions and trades, but I scarcely 
recollect one instance in which the same feeling was not expressed. 

I arrived in New York from Hamburgh, on the 29th Dec, 1849. I 
will not dwell on the events which forced me to fly my own country, 
Hungary. They are known to all. Their interest belongs to the past, 
their results to the future ; and a Chess record is not the place in which 
to touch upon them. It is enough to say that I landed a refugee, 
driven from home, separated from family, depressed in mind, physically 
ill, and with very slender means at my command. My intention was 
to go to the West and settle down upon the land. I took lodgings at 
a hotel near Broadway, and afterwards removed to a boarding-house 
in Chambers street ; and for about a month occupied myself with seeing 
the city and its institutions, and gaining such information as my igno- ' 
ranee of the language enabled me to collect. 

During this time I was waiting for means to carry out my original 
intentions, but they never came ; and as my limited fu^ids melted away, 
my position became more and more difficult. 

Up to this time I had thought but httle about Chess. The game 
had been to me, in my own land, an amusement which absorbed and 
occupied the time I could spare from business. With my lamented 
friend, Szen, once my Chess-master and afterwards my fellow-player, I 
had spent many delightful hours over the board ; and in my tours, I 
had met and contended with most of the great German players ; but 
of Chess as an occupation I had never thought. 

One day, oppressed by the feeling of loneliness which comes over a 
stranger in a crowded city, and perplexed at the dark prospects before 
me, I wandered into a reading-room and took up the New York Albion, 
The first thing which caught my eye was a diagram with a position 
upon it. If a benevolent magician had waved his hand over me, the 
change could not have been greater. In a moment my old love for 
Chess revived, with a vividness I had never before experienced. It 
seemed as if it had grown into a passion after, for a few weeks, tying 
latent. The sense of lonehness vanished. I could find Chess-players, 
and a common love for Chess was, I knew, a sort of freemasonry. I 
could not leave the room before I had solved the problem. All night 



American Chess. 391 

I fought in dreams many old battles over again, and anticipated com- 
bats yet to come. The next morning I called on the editor of the 
Albion^ who received me very kindly, and gave me his card as an 
introduction to Mr. Stanley of the British Consulate — a gentleman 
with whose name I was already familiar. Mr. Stanley gave me a most 
hospitable reception. I spent that evening at his house, and played 
with him; the result being, I think, even games. In Mr. Stanleys 
style of play, I found very much to admire, particularly the originality 
and invention displayed by him in the openings. This was especially 
remarkable in the Knight's G-ame, in which he introduced the method, 
since approved by the best Chess authorities, of bringing both the 
Knights over to the King's side, thus giving additional safety to the 
King, and preparing a strong attack. I cannot allow the opportunity 
to pass, without expressing the deep obligations Mr. Stanley placed me 
under by his unvarying kindness, and the constant exertions he made 
to advance my interests. 

It was about this time that Mr. Stanley left for Washington, to play 
his match "with Mr. Turner ; and when he returned victorious, he 
introduced me to the leading members of the New York Chess Circle^ 
who were in the habit of meeting at the Carlton House, Broadway. 
There I met Mr. Thompson, whose frequent visits to Europe had 
caused him to be well known in European Chess circles, and in several 
encounters with him I had much the best of the play. I also made 
the acquaintance of Mr. Perrin, the present Honorary Secretary of 
the New York Chess Club, and Mr. Evert, to both of whom I suc- 
cessfully gave odds. 

My first formal match was with Mr. Turner. It was arranged for 
me by the kind of&ces of Mr. Stanley aiad Mr. Thompson, and was 
played at New York. In this and another match, which immediately 
followed, I was the conqueror ; but I regret to say that I have not 
preserved any of the games. Mr. Turner struck me as a player of 
great natural talent and strong imagination, but somewhat too liable to 
be carried away by a brilliant combination or a dashing coup. 

In Mr. Turner I found a generous friend. He kindly invited me to 
accompany him to his residence near Lexington (Kentucky) ; my old 
thought of turning farmer reviving, I accepted the invitation. We left 
on the 3d of March, 1850. Our stay in Philadelphia was too short to 
suffer me to meet any of the players of the city, who, I had heard, 
held a high rank among American amateurs. From Philadelphia we 
went by rail via Baltimore and Cumberland, and from thence by 



392 Incidents in the History of 

steamers to Wheeling and Pittsburg^ and reached Lexington by stage 
coach on the 9th of March. 

I had heard much of the powers of Mr. Dudley, and looked forward 
with great pleasure to meeting him. On the 10th, I made his personal 
acquaintance at Charles's Hotel, and we at once sat down to the game, 
and did not cease playing till the time arrived for me to go to Mr. 
Turner's farm, distant about six or seven miles. I greatly admired Mr. 
Dudley's style of play, but, on this occasion, could hardly form an esti- 
mate of his strength. We were, in these first encounters, reconnoitring 
each other. I saw, however, that I had found a very able antagonist ; 
and subsequent experience impressed me with the conviction that Mr. 
Dudley was the best American player I ever met. Looking back now, 
I do not see any reason to alter the estimate I then formed. 

At Mr. Turner's plantation I was entertained with the most open- 
hearted hospitality, and I shall never forget the kindness of my host and 
the efforts he made to serve me. 

On the 11th of March, I was introduced to the leading Lexington 
players at the Club, and I remember particularly Mr. Steward and Mr. 
Hunter, as among the most enthusiastic devotees of Chess. 

On the 12th of March, I commenced a third match with Mr. Turner, 
and at that sitting won every game. 

On the 14th, I was introduced to Mr. Wikle, the editor of the Lex- 
ington newspaper, who emulated my other friends in kindness, and 
inserted in his journal a very handsome notice of my arrival. I also 
made the acquaintance of Mr. Lutz, a German by birth, but for many 
years resident at Lexington. 

During my stay with Mr. Turner, Chess, of course, filled up the 
hours that gentleman could spare from his duties. The result of our 
play then was, that out of seven matches, some of the first five, others 
of the first three games, I won six and lost one by the odd game. 

Mr. Dudley paid us a visit, and a match was arranged for me with 
him, by Mr. Turner. The winner of the first eleven games was to be 
the victor. The first game — a well contested one — was won by Mr. 
Dudley, and if I had had sufficient English at my command, I should 
have said that such a game Avas worth losing. The second game, 
through a blunder on my part, also went to the score of my opponent. 
Mr. Turner seemed somewhat startled at the turn affairs were taking, 
while I felt uneasy. In all the important matches I have played, I 
have lost the first two games. In consequence of my habit of mind, I 
take some time to become familiarized with my position, and able to 



American Chess. 393 

apply myself thoroughly to what is before me ; and this is so, whether 
my opponent happens to be equal or inferior to me. At the third 
game, I settled down to my work, and won that and the following 
five, and ultimately the match only by a majority of three games. This 
close play was, I think, owing to Mr. Dudley often playing the Ruy 
Lopez Opening in the Knight's G-ame. That attack was not then suf- 
ficiently appreciated in Europe, and I was but little acquainted with 
the defence. I took the line of play given in the G-erman Handbuch, 
and lost nearly every game. Mr. Dudley plaj^ed this opening with great 
skill and judgment. Since that time, I have had the opportunity of 
investigating this attack, and have prepared a defence which, if not 
completely satisfactory, seems to me far preferable to the old method. 

I soon had my revenge — for in another match which followed im- 
mediately I won eleven games, Mr. Dudley scoring only three. In 
this match I remember I adopted in the defence to the Ruy Lopez 
3. P. to K. B. 4. with success, and though that move has not secured 
the approbation of the leading European players it is my individual 
opinion that it may as well be played as any other, and that, at all 
events, it gives the second player an open game. 

After some days pleasantly spent with Mr. Steward, Mr. Lutz, and 
Mr. Turner, Sen., a third match with Mr. Dudley was arranged. The 
previous matches had been played in private, biit this took place in 
compliance with the wish of the Lexington players, and was played in 
public. It excited considerable interest. The play commenced on the 
29th of March, and terminated on the 4th of April the score at the 
close being Mr. Dudley 5, myself 11, drawn 3. These games are the 
best I remember playing in America, and would be well worth record- 
ing ; but I have not a note of one of them. Mr. Dudley bore his defeat 
well, and in the most handsome manner, declared himself fairly beaten. 

On the 10th of April I left Lexington for Frankfort on my way to Cin- 
cumati, carrying with me many pleasant reminiscences, and furnished 
with letters of introduction to Mr. Temple, the Treasurer of the State 
of Kentucky. Mr. Temple introduced me to G-en. Pain and to Grover- 
nor Crittenden, in whom I had the satisfaction of becoming acquainted 
with one of the leading statesmen of America. I stayed at the Grover- 
nor's house to tea and supper amid a large party. Mr. Brown, who 
was, I was told, considered the best player in Frankfort, was present. 
I won two games of Mr. Brown, to whom I gave odds, and then re- 
quested the honor of a game with the G-overnor. Here my good for- 
tune deserted me, Mr. Crittenden proved victorious, and I had to con- 

17^ 



394 Incidents in the History of 

sole myself with the thought that I had been beaten in even play by 
one of the shrewdest brains in the States. 

On the 12th of April I went to Louisville by steamboat. Here I 
was introduced to the Club by Dr. Raphael, and played several games. 
In the evening I was entertained by the gentlemen of the club at a 
supper which was presided over by G-eneral Preston. 

On the 16th of April I reached Cincinnati, and on presenting my 
letters of introduction met with a most cordial reception. My warmest 
thanks are due to Dr. Schmidt, the editor of the German Republican^ 
himself a player of no small power, who introduced me to the leading 
amateurs, and did all he could to help me. Dr. Schmidt was fairly en- 
titled to the first place among the Cincinnati players, and next to him 
were Mr. Phineas Moses and Mr. Smith. Among the most enthusiastic 
lovers of the game I may mention Messrs. E. Brookes, Hopel, Eggers, 
Cooper, Baker, Salomons, and Paice. These gentlemen met at each 
Other's houses, and I played with them giving odds. A match was 
soon afterward arranged for me with the leading players consulting to- 
gether. The first game was played on the first of May at the house of 
Mr. Moore, and others at the houses of Messrs. Brookes and Smith. The 
gentlemen consulting were Messrs. Schmidt, Smith, Moses, Brookes, 
and Moore. I won the first three games and the match. I was 
also engaged in private matches with Mr. Smith and Mr. Cooper. Mr. 
Smith had great Chess talent, and a Httle study and perseverance would 
have placed him among the best amateur players. 

At Mr. Hopel's I played and won a bhndfold game, and on another 
occasion two games simultaneously without sight of the board, and 
won them both. My antagonists were Messrs. Cooper and Salomons. 

On the 10th of May I left Cincinnati, and after spending two days 
at Louisville reached New Orleans on the 18th. On the 22d I delivered 
my letter of introduction to Mr. Rousseau, and was by him introduced 
to Mr. E. Morphy and several other amateurs. Matches were arranged 
between Mr. Rousseau and Mr. E. Morphy and me. On the 26th I 
played with Mr. Rousseau (not match games), and won 5 games, all 
we played. 

On the 27th I met Paul Morphy, then a youth, and played with 
him. I do not remember whether we played in all two or three 
games ; one was drawn, the other or others I lost. The young player 
appeared to me to possess Chess genius of a very high order. He 
showed great quickness of perception, and evinced brilliant strategical 
powers. When I passed through New York on my way to the great 



American Chess. 395 

international tournament in London, I mentioned him to Mr. Stanley, 
and predicted for him a briUiant future. 

The intense heat of New Orleans, which from the first had enfeebled 
me both physically and mentally, produced severe illness and incapaci- 
tated me from playing. It was not until the 15th of June that I was able 
to undergo the fatigue of travelling, and on that day I left for Cincin- 
nati, where I arrived on the 22d, and remained during the rest of my 
residence in the United States. 

My old friends received me with open arms, and through thei*r kind 
assistance I was enabled to establish a Cigar Divan in connexion with 
the Chess Club. I commenced under the most favorable auspices. In 
a short time more than 40 members had joined the club, and there was 
a prospect that that number would be greatly increased. Mr. E. 
Brookes was the President, and Dr. Schmidt the Se.cretary, and to 
those gentlemen and the other Chess-players of Cincinnati I owe a 
debt of kindness I may never be able to pay but shall never forget. 

Early in 1851 I was tempted to leave Cincinnati to take part in the 
International Tournament about to be held in London. It was my 
intention to return to my Cincinnati friends, by whose help I was 
enabled to take the journey ; why I did not do so involves an explana- 
tion too loi^ delayed, and which I may perhaps now be permitted to 
make. 

I arrived in London very ill ; an old wound in my leg had broken 
out afresh, and the long and rapid journey had worn me out. My ill 
success in the Tournament is on record. It was nothing more than 
might have been expected. In my weak state everything took a 
morbid hue. I estimated my defeat too highly ; I thought a beaten 
man would be looked coldly on, and I felt I could not go back to those 
friends at Cincinnati whom I had left with such high hopes and glow- 
ing anticipations. Improved health has brought clearer views and the 
consciousness that I wronged those to whom I owe so deep a debt of 
gratitude. 

In justice to myself I must say thai} my play in America was much 
below my usual strength. The circumstances under which I arrived 
tlirere, the difiiculties of my situation, the dark uncertainty of my future, 
my position as a stranger in a new country, of the language of which I 
was ignorant, and my weakened constitution, all contributed to render 
me incapable of efforts I could have made at previous periods. 

My general impression of Chess in America was that there was great 
latent ability in the players, but a deficiency of theoretical knowledge, 



39^ Incidents in the History of 

and a want of a high standard of play. I did not meet througliout the 
States the equals of those great players to be found in every European 
country ; but the people had in them at once the logical calculating 
power of ISTorthern races, and the quick perceptions and warm impulses 
of the South, and required only opportunity and practice to take a high 
place in the world of Chess. One attribute of American play struck me 
forcibly, quickness. Here in Europe a match game occupies a whole 
day ; but in America I have played three or four at the same sitting. 

J. L. 



\^III.— CHESS m NEW YOEK. 

Chess, like all the best things of this world — like wisdom and wealth, 
like books and beauty, hke the pies of Strasbourg and the wines of 
Cyprus — is an enjoyment confined to a comparatively small portion of 
the human race. For however humiliating the contemplation of such 
a state of things must be to Caissa herself, and however shocking it 
may seem to the minds of her zealous and ardent devotees, yet it is a 
settled fact that less than one half of the tongues spoken between the 
rising and the setting of the sun, have a word to express^ the name of 
the game ; and what is even more mournful to reflect upon, not a 
thousandth part of the earth's inhabitants ever seek to drown care or 
heighten enjoyment by means of the checkered board. I am not 
aware that any statistics have been collected from the other planets, 
but it is reasonable to suppose that the proportion of players in Uranus 
is much greater than with us, as it is impossible to imagine in what 
way the people of that distant orb can manage to pass away their 
immensely long years unless by the aid of Chess. But it is a source 
of gratification to every enthusiastic admirer of our sport that the past 
has proved that the knowledge of the game extends as enlightenment 
increases, and we may derive abundant consolation from the prospect 
that when all the heathen have been converted, and all the ignoramuses 
have been transformed into sages ; when every boor has become a 
BacQn, and every farmer a Faraday ; when mankind universally abhor 
war for the vices it engenders, and love peace for the virtues it gene- 
rates — then a chess-board will be found upon every table, and a set of 
men in every drawer. In a new country a high state of civilization, 
and consequently a high state of Chess cultivation, is only reached 
after a long period of warfare with the savage elements of nature. 



American Chess. 397 

ISTew York forms no exception to this general rule. The unhappy red 
men that hunted, smoked, danced, and fought upon the untilled soil 
that has since borne such a goodly crop of parks and streets, lived and 
died (I shudder while I write it) in absolute ignorance of the Asi- 
atic amusement. Nor is there a single word in any early chronicle 
which would lead us to beheve that Hendrik Hudson or the burly 
burghers, who were led by his discovery to found a New Amsterdam 
in the wild and unknown West, were in any degree more blest in this 
respect than the dusky sons of the forest who preceded them. Long 
after the Indians had vanished, long after Holland's sway had ceased, 
we find the first traces of Chess upon the river-girt island of Manhat- 
tan. Lewis Eou, of whom a brief account has been given in a preced- 
ing page,* was, as far as is known, the earliest player in New York, 

* The following kind communication from the Librarian of the New York 
Historical Society (to whom I am also indebted for other favors of a similar 
nature) contains some additional information concerning the character of Ron 
and his fondness for Chess : 

"My Dear Fiske: 

" Lieutenant-Governor Golden^ in one of his criticisms on Smith'' s History 
of New York, takes up the subject of the case between Mr. Rou and the 
French congregation, and after setting forth some of the points in dispute, 
adds the following : ' But before I leave this subject I cannot with justice to 
Mr. Rou avoid taking notice of the character Mr. Smith gives him. Mr. Rou, 
he says, was a man of learning, but proud, pleasurable, and passionate : he 
sets Mr. Moulinars in contrast, viz. that he was of pacific spirit, dull parts, 
and unblamable life and conversation. "Were it not for the contrast it would 
be difficult to say what Mr. Smith means by a pleasurable man, being a 
phrase seldom or never used in the English language ; but as it is set in con- 
trast here with unblamable life and conversation, the reader may naturally 
think that it means a man of pleasure. I knew Mr. Rou, and I never heard 
him reproached with any immorality. He was bookish, and as such men 
frequently are, peevish, and had nothing of the courtly, polite Frenchman. 
The game of -Chess was the only amusement he took, and perhaps ivas too fond 
of it. It 10 as said that he wrote a treatise on that game.'' " 
" Yery truly yours, 

" Geo. H. Moore. 

"LiBRAEY OF THE IIiSTOKiCAL SOCIETY, March 31, 1859." 

The treatise referred to in the last sentence is undoubtedly his Critical 
Remarks^ of which an account has already been given. 



398 Incidents in the History of j 

and his Chess life, if it could be well and worthily written out, would 
doubtless form an important and pleasant chapter in the history of 
the sport. He was passionately fond of Chess, and if he had not found 
players in his new home, would certainly have created them. But 
from the tone of a passage in his book we are led to infer that he 
did meet with opponents here, though, with the vanity of a superior 
practitioner, he hints that they were "bunglers." After his death, 
however, during the whole of the latter half of the eighteenth century 
the Chess annals of New York are a dreary blank. The game may 
have been played to some extent during the years of the British occu- 
pancy, for mihtary men have always been more or less addicted to the 
practice of this mock warfare ; and it is possible that among the officers 
of the English army there were men, who, a quarter of a century be- 
fore, had witnessed the exploits of Phihdor in *the camp of the Duke of 
Cumberland in the Low Countries, or had participated in the combats 
of that circle of Chess lovers which grew up around the great French- 
man in the capital of G-reat Britain. But we may be very sure that 
none of the rebels found leisure for the amusement in those troublous 
and trying times. They were too earnestly engaged in contending 
against the power and obstinacy of a real, live King, to feel any incli- 
nation to puzzle their harassed brains with the movements of the mo- 
narchs of the chess-board. But at last after a memorable and bloody 
struggle, the white forces of freedom checkmated the black troops of 
tyranny, and the cessation of physical warfare afforded an opportunity 
for the practice of the milder delights of mental strife. 

In the issue of the Morning Chronicle newspaper for the 8th of No- 
vember, 1802, is to be found the following short advertisement : 

NEW YORK CHESS-CLUB. 

*j5j* Members are requested to take notice, that the winter meetings of 
this Club will commence on Tuesday evening next, the 9th inst., at 7 o'clock, 
at their room in the City Hotel. 

From the wording of this brief announcement we may very fairly 
conclude that the winter of 1802 was not the first season of the 
" meetings " of the Club. But it affords us no data for calculating 
how many winters had elapsed since its organization. The notice was 
repeated the following day, but in the same meagre and tantalizing 
phraseology. There is good reason to believe that from that day to 



American Chess. 399 

this iSTew York has not been, for an entire year, without some place 
where the admirers of Chess might assemble for intercourse and play. 
And I am convinced that researches more thorough than I have been 
able to make would bring to hght many interesting details concerning 
ISTew York Chess in the first two decades of the century. I am san- 
guine enough to think that the names, and perhaps some of the games 
of the early Philidors and Morphys of Manhattan, might be recovered 
by a patient and assiduous investigator. Were we able, at once, to 
rend the curtain which now divides this visible present from that invi- 
sible past, I imagine that we should see, on the '' Tuesday " or other 
evenings of every winter, a little crowd of ambitious amateurs ga- 
thered together '' at their room in the City Hotel," or elsewhere, fight- 
ing battles, solving problems, or analysing openings. We should pro- 
bably hear hotly debated the question whether the slow and cautious 

would win of the rapid and brilliant in a long match ; 

whether this gambit could be safely offered or that one safely accepted ; 
or whether a certain dubious position could be drawn by Black, or 
must necessarily be won by White. Among the circle were, doubtless, 
some one, or two, or three who were looked up to hj the remaining 
members with the same feelings of admiration and awe with which 
soldiers are accustomed to regard their boldest and bravest generals. 
The younger ones very likely fondly believed that these leaders of the 
Club could successfully compete against the strongest amateurs of the 
Old World, and it may have happened that some patriotic tyro, asto- 
nished at the ease with which the magnates gave him a Knight or a 
Eook, sighed to think that Philidor had not lived to visit America, and 
engaged in a contest with some of the Chess stars of the commercial 
metropolis of America. 

A fortunate testimony, going far to prove the continued existence 
and activity of the Club through the early part of the century, is casu- 
ally afforded by a reprint of the Elements of Chess^ by Lewis, which 
appeared in New York, ^' revised and corrected by an American Ama- 
teur," in the year 1827. The last half-dozen pages of the volume are 
devoted to a code of ^^ Eevised Laws." In his introduction to these 
laws the editor remarks : '' To avoid the undue severity of the old 
laws on the one hand, and a too relaxed practice on the other, the 
New York Chess Club, has from time to time so altered and amended 
the laws, as appeared best adapted to the genius of a game, played, or 
supposed to be played, by gentlemen alone." And again : '^ It has 
been thought advisable to make a collection of those laws, as entered 



400 Incidents in the History of 

on the books of the Club ; only altering the phraseology where it be- ■ 
comes necessary, from the different form in which they are here pre- 
sented. In some cases where, the Club has not thought proper here- 
tofore to enter a change on their minutes, the practice of their best 
players has been consulted, and the following laws framed accordingly ; 
but in no case has the editor introduced any alteration without the 
advice of those whose high standing as players renders them compe- 
tent judges of its propriety." In a foot-note to the third article of the 
code we are told that '' the first part of this rule, though long since 
introduced into practice, was for the first time formally entered on the 
books of the Chess-Club as one of their laws in 1823." These extracts 
are of importance and interest, not only as demonstrative of the vita- 
lity and position of the Club, but as evidence of the attention which 
was paid, even in those early days, to the matter of Chess legislation 
by the foremost amateurs of the city. Discussion on subjects of this 
nature generally follows, and can never precede, the attainment of a 
high proficiency in the practice of the game. 

In the year 1826, that surprising piece of mechanism and mystery, 
the Automaton Chess-Player of Kempel, was brought, by its new pos- 
sessor, Maelzel, to this country. Half a century before, it had first 
excited the wonder of Europe. Kings had been amused, men of 
science had been puzzled, and Chess-players had been startled by its 
apparently inexplicable powers. Had a new Solyman the Great 
appeared upon the outskirts of Christendom, and marched a conqueror 
from the shores of the Danube to the banks of the Seine, he could 
hardly have created more excitement than did this Chess-playing Turk 
among the intelligent classes of the Old World. Philosophers, who 
had passed their lives in investigating the secrets of nature, confounded 
by this visible proof of the fallacy of those theories which were sup- 
posed to explain the laws of matter, brought forward the strangest and 
most diverse hypotheses to account for the miraculous faculties which 
this machine seemed to possess. Kor was its success much less bril- 
liant during its second exhibition by Maelzel, in an age of much greater 
intelligence and acuteness ; and the most enlightened of trans- Atlan- 
tic capitals gazed with feelings of partial awe and entire amazement 
upon a carved image, which appeared to contain within its wooden 
head the brain of a thinking, calculating man. Having wearied 
the curiosity of Europe, Maelzel brought his Automaton to America. 
It was visited, admired, and discussed by the inhabitants of the Western 
Republic very much as it had been by the people of the European 



American Chess. ' 401 

monarchies. Its first exhibitions were given in New York, and its 
career there, as well as in the other parts of the Union, is described in 
a succeeding portion of this volume with an accuracy and pleasantness 
which forbid my attempting to narrate it here. It is sufficient for me 
to say, that it was shown several times in the course of the first few 
years after its arrival to the curious of Manhattan, and undoubtedly did 
much there, as elsewhere, to revive the taste for Chess, and to bring 
the game into public notice. The journals of the day debated with 
zeal the question of its construction, and in the course of the 
multitude of articles which it originated, much information concern- 
ing the nature and history of the game in which the Turk performed 
such astounding feats, was communicated to the readers of newspapers. 
Eival Automaton Ohess-plaj^ers started into being, and Chess-books 
were published both in New York and Boston. 

In the latter years of the decade which witnessed the advent of 
the Automaton, a Frenchman, by the name of Blin, opened a Chess- 
room in Warren Street, where the members of the New York Club 
probably held their meetings.* The leading players of that time were, 
Henry J. Anderson, Ezra Weeks, Judge Theodore S. Fisk, Elkanah Wat- 
son, I. Finch, William Coleman, Antonio Eapallo, and E. Macgauran. 
Of these, Mr. Finch was an Englishman, who spent some years in this 
country and Canada. Upon his return to England he published an 
account of his travels, wherein he gives abundant evidence of his fond- 
ness for the game. Afterwards he was a frequent visitor to the clubs and 
divans of London, and a game is extant between him and the great 
McDonnell. Judge Fisk, if we may beheve those who knew him inti- 
mately, and were capable of appreciating his Chess abilities, was one of 
the best players produced by this country, previous to the appearance of 
Paul Morphy. Mr. Stanley, who made his acquaintance in the latter 
years of his life, speaks in the highest terms of his originality and bril- 
Hancy, and states that he never met with a man so difficult to conquer, 

* Blin's Chess-rooms remained open until some time after his death, which 
took place about 1843. Of the players mentioned in the text, Watson, a law- 
yer, and "Weeks died many years ago ; Anderson, who held for many years a 
Professorship in Columbia College, and who, besides being an excellent player, 
collected a fine Chess library, is still living ; Macgauran is yet a resident of 
New York ; Coleman was the Editor of the Evening Post and is dead ; Ra- 
pallo died, a member of the New York bar, in 1854. Rapallo was a nervous 
player, and had a peculiar habit of holding all the men he captured in his 
hands, until the end of the game. 



402 Incidents in the History of 

among all the native players of America, in his day. He was a man 
whose love of Chess was not confined to its practice alone, but extended 
to its hterature. His Chess hbrary, which was sold shortly after his 
death, numbered between one and two hundred volumes in Enghsh, 
G-erman, and French, and was undoubtedly the largest on this side of 
the Atlantic at the time of its formation. It is probable, although I 
have been able to obtain no certain information of the fact, that Judge 
Fisk was the American amateur who edited the reprint of Lewis' Ele- 
onents of Chess, to which I have before alluded, and which was published 
in New York in 1827. He played a good deal with Finch to whom 
he was greatly superior. He is said to have played considerably with 
Schlumberger, the conductor of the Automaton, and to have won a 
shght majority of games. He died about 1853. In 1835, or there- 
abouts, Mr. Saunders opened a Chess divan in Broadway, near Maiden 
Lane, which had an existence of only one or two years. But the 
New York Club shortly began to assemble at another place, established 
by Thomas Bassford, in Ann Street. Here a large and convenient room 
was fitted up, and furnished with club-men and boards, and here the 
foremost amalrcurs of New York continued to assemble for several 
years. Charles D. Mead, James Thompson, whose names have ever since 
been connected with the game in the commercial metropolis, Saroni, 
Charles Collier, Fowler, E. Wilcox (who used to play without seeing the 
board), Jedediah B. Auld, Adam D. Logan, and McDonnell, were those 
who then enjoyed the highest reputation as disciples of Caissa."^ Ani- 
mated by a new zeal, consequent upon finding themselves in such com- 
fortable quarters, the members of the Club arranged, in 1835, a match 
with the players of the Federal City. Washington was represented by 
J. L. O'Sullivant and others, and New York by Saroni and Logan. This 

* Collier, who possessed the reputation of being a good book-plajer, 
Saroni, and Wilcox are dead; Logan, a lawyer, and M'Donnell are still 
living ; Jedediah B. Auld is at present Private Secretary to Mayor Tiemann, 
of New York. 

f The Honorable John L. O'Sallivan is one of the most enthusiastic and 
intelligent admirers of Chess, of which our country can boast. He graduated 
at Columbia College in 1831, edited for many years the Democratic Review^ 
and has been for some time Minister Resident at the Court of the King of 
Portugal. In 1843-4, during one of the interregnums of the New York Club, 
he gave several Chess soirees at his residence, which were attended by many 
prominent players, and among others, by the present Dr. M'Yickar, of Colum- 
bia College. 



American Chess. 403 

contest, after continuing for some time, was interrupted by one of those 
causes which are so apt to influence the course of games by correspon- 
dence, and was never concluded.* An incident connected with this 
combat is sufficiently amusing : the proprietor of the New York rooms, 
supposing that a game played across such an extent of country as inter- 
vened between Washington and ISTew York, should be contested upon 
a field of proportionate size, caused to be constructed an enormous 
Chess-board, upon whose acre-like squares two armies of huge pieces 
and pawns stood in fearful array. This Brobdignagian Chess furni- 
ture was the source of infinite merriment for some time among the fre- 
quenters of the rooms. Another story is told of the same person, 
whose knowledge of the game never reached a very high point. In 
addition to the Chess department of his estabhshment, he had apart- 
ments devoted to Billiai*ds, in which he was a proficient. One afternoon 
a distinguished Chess-player happened to come in, and while con- 
versing with him, the proprietor asked, with an air of earnestness 
which indicated his own belief in the practicability of the scheme^ 
^' Don't you think that a plan might be discovered by which the games 
of Chess and billiards could be combined in one?" " I have no doubt 
of it," was the equally grave reply, '' but you see the difficulty consists 
in finding a cue to it." 

In the latter part of the year 1840, while the players of the city were 
meeting at Bassford's, a match, by correspondence, was arranged be- 
tween New York and Norfolk, Ya. It was to consist of two games, 
conducted simultaneously, and the winning party was to be entitled 
to a fine set of men. The players, on the part of New York, were 
Colonel Charles D. Mead and Mr. James Thompson;! Norfolk was 

* According to another informant it was afterwards finished by O'SuUivan, 
in New York, over the board, and was won by Manhattan. 

■j- Charles Dillingham Mead, whose name is favorably known wherever 
American Chess-players congregate, was born in the city of New York in the 
year 1815. He graduated at Columbia College in 1835, and subsequently 
became a member of the New York bar. After a legal career of ten years 
Colonel Mead went to Europe, where he travelled for a long period, compet- 
ing with most of the principal amateurs of the Old World, and more particu- 
larly with the lamented Kieseritzky, who regarded him as a very strong op- 
ponent. Like a true knight-errant Colonel Mead visited most of the Euro- 
pean capitals in search of adversaries, but it was only in Paris and London, 
that he met with any superior to himself. In the New York and Norfolk 
match Colonel Mead and Mr. Thompson displayed Chess powers of a very 



404 Incidents in the History of 

represented by Mr. C. W. Newton, Mr. M. Myers, Colonel Greene 
(quite well known in that day for his blindfold play), and Mr. Littleton 
W. Tazewell, formerly Governor of the State of Virginia. The moves 
in the games were published in the New York American. The first 
game, in which New York had the move, lasted until the end of 1842 
and was then drawn. The second game, begun by Norfolk, was con- 
cluded in the early days of June, 1842, at the twenty-sixth move, at 
which time New York announced mate in four moves. The score of 
the latter game is here given. 

GAME II.-- TWO BISHOPS' OPENING. 



Norfolk. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. B to Q. B. 4th. 

3. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

4. Q. to K. B. 3d. 



New York. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

3. Q. to K. Kt. 4tli. 

4. Q. to K. Kt. 3d, 



high order. Upon its final organization, in 1856, Colonel Mead was elected 
President of the New York Chess-Club. He is now the presiding officer of 
the American Chess Association. I know of few greater Chess enthusiasts 
than the subject of this sketch, nor is there any one who has made more 
earnest and persistent efforts for the advancement of the game. The ama- 
teurs of New York especially owe him a large debt of gratitude. 

James Thompson", the colleague of Colonel Mead in the joust with Nor- 
folk, was born in London in 1805. He crossed the Atlantic at the age of ten 
years, and settled with his family in the County of Susquehanna, Pa., but 
came to New York in 1826, where he has ever since resided. He learned 
Chess at the early age of eight, but after some practice abandoned it for 
many years, finally resuming it in 1836, about the time of the establishment 
of Bassford's Chess-Rooms. From that day to this Mr. Thompson has been 
one of the most prominent members of the New York Club. When St. Amant 
was in the city the Club purchased from him a complete set of the Palamede^ 
which was competed for in a tournament of the eight strongest members, and 
won by Mr. Thompson. Travelling on the Continent of Europe in 1840 and 
1850, he played more than one hundred games with Kieseritzky at the odds 
of pawn and move and scored a majority. He also encountered many other 
players abroad, and in general with very good success. He is considered as 
the most brilliant player of the Club, and dehghts in games wherein he gives 
odds. With the Attack in the Evans G-ambit he is particularly familiar. His 
genial disposition and ardent attachment to the game make him a universal 
favorite with the Cliess lovers of New York. 



American Chess. 



405 



Norfolk. 

5. K. Kt. to K. 2d. 

6. P. to Q. 4th. 
T. Castles. 

8. P. takes P. 

9. K. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 

10. Q. to Q. 3d. 

11. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

12. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

13. Kt. takes Kt. 

14. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

15. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 

16. Q. takes R. 

17. Q. to Q. B. sq. 

18. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

19. K. B. to Q. 5th. 

20. B. takes Kt. 

21. B. takes B. 

22. Q. to K. 3d. 

23. K. R. to Q. Kt. sq. 

24. Q. to K. sq. 

25. R. to Kt. 2d. 

26. Q. R. to Q. Kt. sq. 

And New 



New York. 

5. P. to Q. 3d. 

6. K, B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 
1. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

8. P. takes P. 

9. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 

10. Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

11. K. Kt. to R. 4th. 

12. Castles. (Q. R.) 

13. B. takes Kt. 

14. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 

15. R. takes Kt. 

16. Kt. takes P. 

17. B. to K. B. 6th. 

18. P. to K. R. 4th. 

19. P. to K. R. 5th. 

20. Q. takes B. 

21. Q. to K. Kt. 5th. 

22. R. P. takes B. 

23. P. to K, 5th. 

24. P. to K. B. 4th. 

25. P. to K. B. 5th. 



York mates in four moves. 



The second game was translated, and published in the Pdlamede of 
Paris (vol. ii., 1842, pp. 63-65), with notes by the editor, St. Amant. 
He there condemns the sacrifice of the exchange made by New York 
at the fifteenth move as unsound, and asserts that the winning of the 
game by New York after that move was the result of '' luck." Nor- 
folk, he maintains, should have captured the Rook with Bishop, instead 
of Queen. Some years afterwards Mr. Stanley republished the game 
in the Spirit of the Times (May 2, 1846), denied the allegation of the 
distinguished French critic, and appended some variations to prove the 
correctness of New York's course. St. Amant {Pdlamede^ vol. vi., 
1846, pp. 280-281), upon receiving a copy of Mr. Stanley's remarks, 
very frankly and courteously rectified his error. There is, however, a 
certain air of incredulity about his apology, as if it was difficult to 
believe that any Chess-players at a distance of three thousand miles 
from the Cafe de la Regence could be capable of forming and elaborat- 
ing a combination so deep as the one in question.* 

* Besides the Palamede, BelVs Life republished the game in the same year 



4o6 Incidents in the History of 

At the close of the contest a dispute arose as to the actual result of 
the match. Norfolk insisted that the match consisted of two games, 
that one was not a majority of two, and consequently the whole strug- 
gle resulted in a draw. New York replied that if one was not a ma- 
jority of two, it was 3^et infinitely greater than nothing. A long paper 
warfare resulted ; but the matter was at length submitted to the adju- 
dication of Mr. 0' Sullivan, who decided in favor of New York, and 
in a long and logically written essay demonstrated the justice of his 
decision. New York therefore received the prize. 

This well-fought battle seems to have aroused the interest of the 
Chess community of the city, for during its progress the Club consi- 
derably increased in numbers, and in 1841 was able to take rooms for 
its exclusive use in Barclay street, a few doors from Broadway. In 
these rooms, in the year 1842, Charles Henry Stanley, an English 
player of some note in his native country, made his first appearance in 
America as a Chess-player.* John W. Schulten, still a merchant of 
New York, but who passes most of his time in Paris, became first 

(July 24). It is to be found also in Bledow's Corresj^ondenz-Fartieen (p. 74) ; 
in Walker's Chess Studies (ip. 14, No. 397); in Agnel's Chess for Winter Even- 
ings (p. 161) ; and in the American Chess Magazine (pp. 81-82). 

* Charles Henry Stanley, for many years the champion of America, 
was born in England in the year 1819. He was well known, from about 
1837, in all the London clubs, and at the Divan, as a frequent visitor, and as 
one of the most promising players of the day. He considers Mr. Popert as 
his principal Chess instructor. Mr. Popert could give him no odds : but the 
custom of the Divan habitues being to piay for a shilling a game, to equalize 
matters, Mr. Popert used to bet two to one on his winning. Not long before 
Mr. Stanley's departure for the United States, he contested a match with Mr. 
Staunton, then at the height of his strength. Mr. Stanley received the odds 
of pawn and two moves, and won the match by a large majority. Upon his 
arrival in America Mr. Stanley began to devote a larger portion of his time 
to the game, and one after another he defeated all the leading players of the 
country from Boston to New Orleans. His encounter with Rousseau, at 
New Orleans, took place in 1845, and his victory over Turner, at Washing- 
ton, was achieved in 1850. In 1852 St. Amant, of Paris, passed through 
New York, and of the few games played between the Frenchman and Mr. 
Stanley each party won an equal number. Mr. Stanley was the pioneer 
Chess editor of this country, and established in 1845 the first American 
Chess column in the Spirit of the Times. His services to the game in our 
republic cannot be too highly estimated, whether we consider him as a Chess 
writer or simply as a practitioner. 



American Chess. 407 

known to the Chess circles of ]^ew York at about the same time and 
place. He is a G-erman by birth, and for many years has enjoyed a 
large reputation, on both sides of the Atlantic, as a player of great force 
and elegance. A variation of the Bishop's G-ambit, of marked inge- 
nuity and beauty, owes its origin to him. (See Staunton's Handbook^ 
p. 321.) Mr. Stanley and Mr. Schulten were frequent adversaries and 
produced many admirable games, a number of which have since ap- 
peared in print. In 1846, since which period they have rarely met, 
the score, in the set matches between them, stood as follows : 

First match (1844) ...... Stanley, 11 Schulten, 5 

Second " (1844) " 11 " 9 

Third " (1845) "• 15 " 13 

Fourth " (1846) " t " 11 

We have been unable to ascertain the number of drawn games in 
the first three matches, but in the last encounter four so resulted. 
Among the leading players of the club in Barclay Street, were Dr. 
Detmold, a G-erman, who is still living in New York, and Mr. Selim 
Franklin. Tlie latter won the chief prize in the great Pacific Tourna- 
ment held in San Francisco in 1858. 

Since 1840, a pleasant place of resort for amateurs, has been at the 
rooms of the Society Library. Directly after the completion of the 
building, on Broa'dway, the Directors made arrangements for the 
accommodation of such of their members as were fond of Chess, and the 
following was inserted in the papers of the city in the month of Feb- 
ruary, 1841 : *' The members of the ISTew York Society Library are 
informed that the arrangements for playing Chess in the conversation- 
rooms of the Library are completed, and that on and after this evening 
(February 13th), such of them as are amateurs of this delightful game, 
may indulge themselves under the most favorable circumstance's of 
accommodation and comfort." Among those who have, at different 
times, occupied the Chess tables of the Society Library, none will be 
longer or more kindly remembered than the Reverend Dr. William 
Walton, whose enthusiasm for the game and appreciation of its high 
social character, render him one of the most honored members of the 
Chess circles of the city. 

Not long after the close of the New York and Norfolk match, the 
rooms in Barclay street were given up. The club then met a short 
time on Broadway, near Spring street, where a tournament was 
arranged and played, in which the chief prize was the presidency of 



4o8 Incidents in the History of 

the club. Mr. 0' Sullivan was the leading instigator of this move- 
ment. In the winter of 1843-4 apartments were taken in the 
Carlton House, on the corner of Broadway and Leonard street, where 
the members were especially accustomed to assemble on the evenings 
of Tuesday and Thursday. The proprietor of the hotel was himself 
an amateur of no ordinary ability. Here the fires of Chess continued 
to burn brightly for many years. Here the most brilliant combats of 
Stanley took place, and Chess enthusiasts of the city are still wont to 
recall with delight '' the days when Stanley played at the Carlton." 
Here Schulten displayed those high qualities of patience under defeat, 
and perseverance under difficulties, which have given him a high and 
well-deserved reputation. Here that representative man of !N"ew Eng- 
land Chess, G-eorge Hammond, in frequent visits, exhibited his high 
talents in many encounters with the leading members of the Club. 
Mr. Hammond was in JSTew York in August, 1845, in April, 1846, and 
again in April, 1847, at which latter time he played a match with Mr. 
Thompson. Upon the establishment of the Club at the Carlton, Schul- 
ten was chosen President, and Stanley Honorary Secretary. 

Two or three events worthy of note, marked the year 1845. In 
the early part of that year Stanley commenced a Chess column in the 
Spirit of the Times, which was the first attempt at a regular Chess 
organ. In looking over the, files at this day, it is impossible not to be 
struck by the versatile genius of the editor, which is seen in every 
number. In November Stanley left New York for New Orleans to 
contest his match with Rousseau, an account of which is given at 
greater length in a succeeding page. In the summer of the same 
year BelVs Life (edited by G-eorge Walker) suggested a match, by 
correspondence, between Spreckley and Mongredien of Liverpool, on 
the one hand, and Stanley and Schulten of New York, on the other. 
Stanley, in noticing this remark, declines any such arrangement, 
humorously asserting that as it would probably last from ten to fifteen 
years, it would be really playing for a man's life. At the same time 
he offered to play a match over the board with either of the gentle- 
men named. In the following November a letter was received from 
Mr. Spreckley proposing on the part of himself and Mr. Mongredien to 
engage in a consultation match against the two strongest New York 
players. But the affair was never brought to a successful issue. In 
March, 1845, a match of a single game was commenced between Mr. 
Stanley and Mr. Yezin of Philadelphia, which was won by the latter 
gentleman. The moves were pubhshed through the Morning News of 



American Chess. 409 

New York and the United States Gazette of Philadelphia. In June, 
1846, another encounter took place over the board in 'Ne^Y York 
between these players, the New York amateur winning the odd game 
out of nine. In October Mr. Marache,* who was beginning to be 
favorably known even outside of New York, began a Chess magazine, 
upon the failure of which Stanley, in January, 1847, issued the first 
number of another. By a notice in the journals in February, 1847, we 
learn that " the members of the New York Chess Club continue to 
hold their meetings at the Carlton House, where they have excellent 
accommodations. Amateurs visiting the city will be at all times wel- 
come at the Chess Club. Applicants for membership should apply to the 
Treasurer (Mr. P. H. Hodges) at the Carlton House. The amount of 
subscription is five dollars half yearly." Besides the players already 
mentioned, Mr. Zerega, Mr. F. Bernier, and Mr. Martin Mantin,t were 

* Napoleon Marache was born in Meaux, Department of Seine-et-Marne, 
France, in 1818, but came to this country when thirteen years of age. He 
was first shown the moves at chess in 1844, when twenty-six years of age, 
and learned them with astonishing rapidity. He manifested such a taste 
for the game that, at his instructor's suggestion, he procured some Chess 
books — the first two volumes of the Chess Player^s Chronicle, and shortly 
afterwards Lewis' Treatise. Within three weeks after he had received his 
first lesson, he could give the odds of a Eook to his teacher, from whom he 
had but just before taken the odds of the Queen. He subsequently became 
acquainted with that well-known Brooklyn amateur, Mr. Daniel S. Roberts 
(now one of the leading players of California), who gave him first the odds of 
a Rook, then of a Knight and Pawn and two moves, until Mr. Marache was 
at length able to meet liim on even terms. Mr. Marache considers that 
most of his Chess knowledge is due to this gentleman In 1845 he com- 
menced making problems, which were published in the S^nrit of the Times ; 
and up to the present time he is the author of about one hundred stratagems 
which have appeared in various American journals. In October, 1846, he 
started the first American Chess periodical under the title of The Chess Palla- 
dium and Mathematical Sphynx, of which only three numbers, however, were 
issued. He conducted at one time, with marked ability and courtesy, the 
chess column of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Neiuspaper, and now (1859) edits 
that o^ Porter'' s Spirit As a player, Mr. Marache is admirably cool and self- 
possessed, and joins to his native talent for the game a large knowledge of the 
books. As a problemist his suicidal positions are wonderfully ingenious and 
elaborate. 

f Martin Mantin, a native of France, but for a long time well known as a 
New York merchant, has been for twenty-five j^ears the most inveterate and 

18 



41 o Incidents in the History of 

prominent members of the Club during nearly the whole of the period 
in which it held its sessions at the Carlton. 

In 1849, a frequent topic of conversation at the Carlton reunions was 
a iliatch with Mexico. The distance between the two capitals of the 
sister republics of America, and the reputation of the amateurs of both 
cities, made every lover of chess feel an interest in the promise of a 
prolonged contest. During the latter part of the winter of this year, 
Mr. 0' Sullivan was in Havana, where he met with the best player of 
Mexico, Senor Leandro Morro. Both were enthusiastic admirers of 
the game, and a match was arranged without difficulty. The stakes 
were to be a set of chessmen, worth at least one hundred dollars, and 
the combat was to begin forthwith. Mr. O'Sullivan, immediately upon 
his return to New York, in April, publicly announced the fact that 
the first move might be expected from the city of Montezuma about 
the middle of May. Everything seemed to promise a grand struggle 
between the Northern and the Southern races — between a race which 
boasted of a M'Donnell and a race of the lineage of Lopez. But whose- 
soever the fault may have been, the match was indefinitely postponed 
and still remains unfought. Who can say what would have been the 
result, had it taken place ? Would the Americans have repeated upon 
the Chess-board the bloody victories of a few months' previous, at 
Palo Alto and Cerro Gordo ? Or would los Mexicanos have avenged 
upon the checkered field a score of defeats upon the plains and in the 
passes of their country ? 

The players of the city continued to meet at the Carlton until 1850, 
when their quarters were changed to a new establishment at number 
663 Broadway, known as the New York Athenceum^ which consisted 
of several spacious and elegant reading-rooms, and a fine apartment 
devoted exclusively to Chess. Here the leading amateurs of New 
York, including Mr. Stanley, Mr. O'Sulhvan, Colonel Mead, and Mr. 
Thompson, were to be met nightly. Some interest was excited by a 
number of curious contests, between Mr. Stanley and a prominent 
player, at the singular odds of two pawns and the move. Mr. Stanley 
had returned from his battles with Mr. Turner at Washington (played 
in February, 1850), covered with laurels, and stood higher than ever. , 
In November, 1848, he had commenced a Chess column in The Albion^ 
which he still conducted, and through which the Chess pubhc of Ame- 

assiduous attendant at the Club. He rarely misses an evening ; and he plays 
with a formidable rapidity. He is now the Actuary of the Club. 



American Chess. 41 1 

rica was informed of the inception and progress of the great Interna- 
tional Tournament at London, in 1851. About this time Mr. Thomas 
Loydj an ingenious and excellent player, first became known as a first- 
rate among the amateurs of the city. 

The Athen^um having closed, after a brief but briUiant existence, the 
members of the Chess community soon felt the want of another assem- 
bling-place. The short sojourn of Charles St. Amant in the city, 
during the early part of the year, also gave an unwonted impetus to 
metropoUtan Chess. That celebrated Frenchman, on his way from 
San Francisco to Paris, remained only long enough in New York to 
accept the hospitalities of the Chess circle, which were tendered him, 
in the shape of a dinner at Delmonico's. He played a few games with 
Mr. Stanley, the result being the winning of an equal number by each 
player. The friends of Chess, in Kew York, were indebted to the 
activity of Mr. Perrin,* a player who had lately come among them, for 
the re-organization of the Club and for its flourishing existence during 
the following five years. In the fall of 1852 his efforts succeeded in 
rousing the players to action, and rooms were taken in Broadway near 
Franklin street. The Club removed, in the spring of 1853, to number 85 
Fourth avenue, in the spring of 1854, to Tenth street, near 4th avenue, 
and in the spring of 1856 to number 19 East Twelfth street. During 
all these changes its affairs were conducted solely by Mr. Perrin, under 
whose kindly auspices it continued to increase in number and pros- 

* Frederick Perrin was born in London, of Swiss parents, and is now 
(1859) in his forty-fourth year. When young he was fond of all games in 
which skill could be displayed, and especially of Chess, but he was sent at 
the age of fourteen, to a gymnasium in Switzerland, where he had few oppor- 
tunities for the practice of his favorite amusement. Upon his return to 
England he passed much of his leisure time in the Divan, encountering many 
of tlie leading Briiish players, but receiving from them the odds of the knight. 
His principal opponent was the late Mr. Daniels, whose game, George Walker 
tells us, much resembled Cochrane' s. It was only after his arrival in this 
country that Mr. Perrin commenced a serious study of Chess, playing at first 
with the late Mr. Vezin, of Philadelphia, and other well-known practitioners 
of that city. He was subsequently appointed Professor of Modern Lan- 
guages in Princeton College, where he practised the game almost daily with 
Mr. Eugene B. Cook, whose splendid problems are known and admired 
throughout the world-wide domain of Chess. He left Princeton in 1853, and 
came to New York in 1853, where he now fills a position in the National 
Bank, and superintends the Chess column of the Albion. 



k 



412 Incidents in the History of 

perity. Upon its last removal the members expressed their sense of 
the obligation which they owed to Mr. Perrin, by presenting him with 
the two handsome engravings of Mate Pending and Mated^ by Frank 
Stone. Among the leading players during the early part of this 
period was Mr. Pindar, for the last three or four years known as 
one of the strongest men in the Manchester Club, the most flourishing 
provincial Chess organization in England. Other players were Mr. 
Thompson, Colonel Mead, Mr. W. J". A. Fuller,* Mr. A. R. aal- 
latin (justly regarded as a fine analyst), Mr. Thomas Loyd, Mr. 
Marache, Mr. T. Rabusky (now of the Boston Club), Mr. A. W. 
King, Mr. D. Julien, Mr. Mantin, Mr. C. E. Anderson, Mr. F. Bernier, 
Mr. W. C. Hamilton (latterly a member of the St. Louis Club), Mr. 
W. C. Miller, Mr. John S. Dunning, and Mr. Samuel Loyd. In the 
last months of the winter of 1855-56 the Club received an important 
accession in Mr. Theodore Lichtenhein, a player of great powers.t His 

* William James Appleton Fuller, was born at Boston, April 8th, 1822. 
After spending some time at Harvard College, he paid a brief visit to Europe. 
He commenced playing Chess at the age of sixteen ; and enjoyed the instruc- . 
tion of Mr. Hammond, who, with Dr. Oliver, used to play with him at odds. 
A checkered life gave him but few opportunities to cultivate the game. 
Among his numerous adventures, we are told that *' he has hunted whales in 
Polar seas, — swam for a wager, and most unexpectedly for hfe, at Niagara Falls 
and among the amphibious Fayaways of the tropics — taught school and edited 
newspapers in the Far West— lost his way and everything else but his life, 
in crossing the wilderness on his route to California — doubled every Cape and 
Horn on the globe — and last, not least, drunk champagne with M. Godard 
while high up in a balloon." Although he taught Chess while on a whaling 
voyage to the officers of the ship, and encountered in Cuba the magnates of 
the ever-loyal isle, he did not resume the regular practice of the game until 
he settled in New York, in 1854, Then he entered the Club, and in the fol- 
lowing 3^ear took charge of a Chess department in Frank LesUe^s Illustrated 
Newspajoer, where he displayed high literary as well as powerful Chess abili- 
ties. He was chiefly instrumental in giving an accelerated impulse to the 
onward march of the game, and his brilliant, humorous, and instructive 
column aroused an enthusiasm for our sport, which had never before been 
experienced by the public of this country. Mr Fuller is now (1859) engaged 
in the successful practice of the law, in New York, and is an Honorary Mem- 
ber of the New York Club. 

f Theodore Lichtenhein was born at Konigsberg, in Prussia, in 1829. 
He studied for the medical profession, but his military tastes induced him to 
accept a commission in the Prussian army. After two years' service, Mr. L. 



American Chess. 413 

game was immediately noticed as a fine specimen of the style lately 
brought into vogue by the renowned Prussian school. In the preceding 
winter Mr. C. H. Schultz and the writer of this sketch entered the 
Club. It was then meeting in Tenth street, on Tuesday, Thursday, 
and Friday evenings, and the sessions were held from the first of No- 
vember to the first of June. Mr. Thompson and Mr. Pindar had gone 
to Europe not long before. Matches were in progress between Mr. 
Perrin and Mr. T. Loyd ; and Mr. William W. Montgomery, the lead- 
ing player of Greorgia, was paying the first of a number of visits to 
New York. Some interesting games were contested between Mr. 
Stanley and Mr. Montgomery one of the first evenings on which the 
writer saw the Club assembled. When the Club was fairly settled in 
Twelfth street in May, 1856, the following officers were elected : — 
Charles D. Mead, President ; C. E. Anderson, Yice-President ; F. Per- 
rin, Secretary ; A. W. King, Treasurer ; A. R. Gallatin, IST. Marache, and 
F. Bernier, Executive Committee. Dr. Raphael,* who had played a 



came to this country, where he has resided uninterruptedly for the last six 
years, engaged in the wholesale mercantile business in this city. He learned 
the moves in Chess at twelve years of age, and rose rapidly to the rank of a 
first-rate player, so that when eighteen years old he was elected President of 
the Konigsberg Chess Club. But from the time of his arrival in this country 
he never practised the game until his entrance into the New York Club in 
the spring of 1856. His success in encountering the magnates of that bod}^ 
soon made it evident that no player excelled him in strengtli. His style is 
that of the famous Berlin school — more remarkable for its soundness than its 
brilliancy. The same careful analysis, the same cautious and certain ma- 
noeuvring of his forces, which are to be seen in the published games of the 
great German masters, distinguish the Chess style of Mr. Lichtenhein. He is 
now considered the strongest player in the city of New York, and was Presi- 
dent of the Chess Club during 1858-9. He was the winner of the third prize 
in the Congress. 

* B. I. Raphael was born in Richmond, Yirginia, in 1818, and graduated 
at the University of Yirginia. He was taught the moves by his father at an 
early age, but made no great progress in the game until he came to New 
York for the purpose of commencing his medical studies, when he frequented 
the Club, which then met at the Carlton House. At this time he played with 
Stanley, Thompson, Mead, and other first-raters, but was probably a knight 
weaker than any of them. Having completed the course at the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons, and after remaining in the New York Hospital as 
a Resident Surgeon for three years, he sailed for Europe in 1842, and spent 



k 



414 Incidents in the History of 

distinguished part on the Chess-boards of the West, came to New York 
in 1857, and was warmly welcomed by the Club. The Club engaged 
in a match by correspondence with the Athenaeum players of Phila- 
delphia in the years 1856 and 1857, in which, as is told in another part 
of this bookj the New Yorkers were unfortunate. Frequent visitors at 
the rooms in Twelfth street were Mr. H. P. Montgomery, Mr. Lewis 
Elkin, and Mr. Dougherty, of Philadelphia ; Mr. J. Ferguson, of 
Lockport ; Mr. S. E. Calthrop, of Bridgeport (formerly a player of note 
in Oxford, England) ; and Mr. David Parry, of Virginia. Just after 
the close of the Congress, in 1857, the Club had the pleasure of seeing 
among them for a short time Mr. John W. Schulten, whose interest in 
Chess during his absence had by no means diminished. Mr. Schulten 
played with Mr. Perrin and Mr. Stanley successfully, but only won a 
single game out of twenty -four with Mr. Morphy. While under the 
direction of Mr. Perrin the Club was accustomed to have an annual 
Tournament of the eight strongest players. The chief prizes in these 
were won successively by Mr. Thompson, Mr. Perrin, Mr. Marache, 
and Mr. Fiske. In 1857 the same ofl&cers were re-elected, with the 
exception of Mr. King, whose place was supplied by Mr. Thompson. 
During the summer vacations of the Club in 1856 and 1857 the meet- 
ings were held in the St. Denis Hotel, corner of Broadway and Ele- 
venth street, where rooms were gratuitously occupied by the kindness 
of the proprietor, Mr. Denis Julien, well known for many years as an 
elegant composer of problems, a fine player, and an ardent devotee of 
the royal sport. 

eighteen months in the hospitals of Paris. While in that city he occasionally 
frequented the Cafe de la Regence, where he played with Kieseritzky and 
St. Amant, always, however, receiving odds from them. In the winter of 
1843 he was a spectator of the celebrated match between Staunton and St. 
Amant. On his return to this country in the following year, he removed to 
Louisville, Kentucky, commenced the practice of medicine, and during several 
years was medical lecturer in the college of that city, holding, at the same 
time, the post of Attending Surgeon in the City Hospital. In 1845 he assisted 
in founding the Louisville Chess Club, which, in connexion with the Clubs in 
Lexington and Frankfort, instituted the annual Chess Tournaments held at the 
different watering-places in Kentucky. Associated with Mr. Bland Ballard, 
of Louisville, he played two games by correspondence with the Lexington 
Club, as also several telegraphic matches with Frankfort, Kentucky, Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, and with Nashville, Tennessee. In the spring of 1857 he removed 
to New York, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profes- 
sion. He won the fourth prize in the Orand Tournament of the Congress. 



American Chess. 415 

In the spring of 1858 Mr. Perrin removed to Brooklyn, and at a 
numerously attended meeting, held at the St. Denis Hotel in May of 
that year, it was determined to reorganize the Club, and a new consti- 
tution was drawn up and adopted, under which the following Board 
of Management w^as chosen : — Theodore Lichtenhein, President ; W. 
Coventry H. Waddell, Yice-President ; Robert J. Dodge, Secretary ; 
James Thompson, Treasurer ; Daniel W. Fiske, Librarian ; Denis Ju- 
lien. Actuary. The Board were instructed to prepare a code of Chess 
laws for the use of the Club. This was done, and the new code, 
together with the Constitution of the Club, issued in the form of a 
pamphlet. Large and convenient rooms were taken at No. 29 Bond 
street, which were retained until October, when the Club again ]^oved 
to 814 Broadway. In December, 1858, the Club appointed a Com- 
mittee tp play a second match, by telegraph, with the Athenaeum 
players of Philadelphia, but the valiant Manhattan ese came off lit- 
tle better than in their former contest with the brave knights of the 
Quaker city. At the annual election in April, 1859, the following per- 
sons were elected to compose the Board : — Charles D. Mead, Presi- 
dent ; C. E. Anderson, Yice-President ; Robert J. Dodge, Secretary ; 
James Thompson, Treasurer ; WilHam C. Miller, Librarian ; Martin 
Mantin, Actuary. In May the Club commenced to occupy their pre- 
sent handsome apartments in the building of the ISTew York Univer- 
sity, on Washington square. More than one hundred gentlemen, to 
insure the permanence and prosperity of the Club, have engaged during 
three years to pay an annual subscription of ten dollars. 



IX.— CHESS IN NEW ORLEANS. 

The fact that the Crescent city has been for many years the resi- 
dence of a Chess-player equally famous in both hemispheres, and that 
it has produced incomparably the best Chess artist of our times, leads 
us to give a brief account of the progress of the game in the metropolis 
of the South. Tradition says that about a quarter of a century ago 
the Chess-players of that day used to assemble in a reading-room in 
St. Charles street, and that afterwards certain lovers of the game, 
mostly Grermans, were accustomed to meet in an apartment hired for 
that purpose in the upper part of the city. But unfortunately none of 



k 



416 Incidents in the History of 

the names of these early devotees have been preserved. A regularly 
organized Chess Club is first known to have existed in New Orleans 
in 1838j but it had a life of less than two years. While it did last its 
sessions were held in an apartment over the post-office, in a locality 
afterwards called the Exchange. After its disbandment the players 
began to frequent the Reading-Rooms of the Exchange, Royal street, 
which were established about 1844. In 1844 the Club was revived. 
The chief member was Mr. Eugene Rousseau, a native of France, who 
began his Chess career at the Cafe de la Regence and the Cercle des 
Echecs. His contests with Kieseritzky, St. Amant, and other great 
players of Paris have given him a high place among the players of the 
age. He was well acquainted with the celebrated Labourdonnais.* 
His matches with Mr. Schulten resulted as follows :^ 

First matcli (New Orleans, 1841), of 21 games, Rousseau, 10; Schulten, 11 
Second " '' " " of 11 '' " 7; " 4 

Third ^' (New York, 1843), of 21 " " 13; " 8 

Next to Mr. Rousseau, the strongest players of Kew Orleans in the 
last decade were Mr. Ernest Morphy, the uncle of Paul Morphy, and 
one of the most thorough and careful analysts in the Union, afterwards 
a resident of Ohio, and now of Quincy, Illinois ; Mr. Arthur Ford, who 
removed some years ago to Texas ; and Mr. Edward Jones, now liv- 
ing in Cahfornia, who left behind him in Louisiana the reputation of 
being a brilliant and ingenious player ; Mr. Bernier and Mr. Zerega, 
both of whom were at different periods members of the New York 
Club, came next in strength ; while Mr. W. A. (xasquet, Mr. Charles 
Le Carpentier, Mr. J. P. Benjamin, Mr. C. W. Horner, and Mr. Hurtel, 
were esteemed as amateurs somewhat inferior to the first-rates. 

One of the most important matches recorded in the annals of Ame- 
rican Chess was contested at New Orleans in the year 1845, between 
Mr. Charles Henry Stanley, of New York, and Mr. Eugene Rousseau, 
of New Orleans. The entire amount of the stakes was one thousand 
dollars. One combatant was a countryman of Labourdonnais and St. 
Amant, the other was a native of the land of McDonnell and Staunton ; 
and both were known to have no superiors in the country of their 
adoption. There was only one thing that somewhat detracted from 

* Mr. Rousseau, at the present time, cannot be much less than fifty years 
of age. His style shows tlie training of the great French school under which 
his Chess mind was formed. Many of his games are scattered through the 
Chess publications of tlie last twenty years. 



American Chess. 



417 



its interest. Mr. Rousseau is said to have been seriously ill for some 
little time previous to the match, and when the time came to meet his 
adversary he was far from convalescent. His friends urged him to 
demand a postponement, but fearing lest such a request might be 
wrongly interpreted, he expressed his determination to play at all 
hazards. He was so weak that every morning he was forced to ride 
some miles in order to gain, if possible, sufficient physical strength to 
endure a sitting of three or four hours. Mr. Stanley left New York 
for New Orleans on the 10th of November, 1845, and arrived at his 
destination on the 23d of the same month. The match was commenced 
on the first of December and finished on the twenty-seventh. It was 
played at the rooms of the Club, on the corner of St. Charles and Com- 
mon streets, in the building occupied by the Commercial Reading- 
Rooms. The most interesting games were, perhaps, the first and 
nineteenth of the series, the scores of which we copy from the collec- 
tion of the games afterwards published by Mr. Stanley (pages 5 and 
29). 

GAME I.— KNIGHT'S DEFENCE. 





Stanley. 








Eousseau. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 






1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 




2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 






3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th 


4. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 






4. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


5. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 






5. 


Castles. 


6. 


P. to Q. 3d. 






6. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


7. 


K. B. to Kt. 3d. 






1, 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


8. 


Q. Kt. to K, 2d 






8. 


Q. to K. 2d. 


9. 


Q, Kt. toK. Kt. 


3d. 




9. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 5th. 


10. 


K. Kt. takes Q. 


Kt. 




10. 


K. B. takes K. Kt 


11. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 






11. 


K. B. to Kt. 3d. 


12. 


Castles. 






12. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


13. 


Q. B. to K. Kt. 


5th. 




13. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


14. 


Kt. to R. 5th. 






14. 


P. takes P. 


15. 


P. takes P. 






15. 


Q. B. takes K. B. 


16. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 






16. 


Q. B. to B. 5th. 


17. 


Q. B. takes Kt. 






11. 


Q. to K. 3d. 


18. 


Kt. takes Kt. P. 






18. 


Q. B. to K. 7th. 


19, 
20. 


Kt. takes Q. 
Kt. takes R. 






19. 


B. takes Q. 






And Mr. 


Rousseau resigns. 








1 


8^ 





41 8 



Incidents in the History of 



GAME XIX.— SICILIAN OPENING. 





Stanley. 




Eousseau. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


2. 


P. to K. 3d. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


4. 


P. to Q, B. 3d. 


4. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


5. 


P. takes P. 


5. 


P. takes P. 


6. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


6. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


V. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


1. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


8. 


Castles. 


8. 


Castles. 


9. 


K. Kt. to K. 5th. 


9 


Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


10. 


K. Kt. takes Q. Kt. 


10. 


P. takes K. Kt. 


11. 


K. B. to B. 2d. 


11. 


Q. B. to R. 3d. 


12. 


K. R. to B. 2d. 


12. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


13. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


13. 


Q. R. to Q. B. sq. 


14. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


14. 


P. takes P. 


15. 


Q. B. takes P. 


15. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


16. 


Q. B. takes K. Kt. 


16. 


K. B. takes Q. B. 


11, 


Q. takes K. P. 


17. 


K. R. to K. 8th. (ch.) 


18. 


K. to R. 2d. 


18. 


P. to Q. B 5th. 


19. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


19. 


Q. R. to K. sq. 


20. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


20. 


B. to K. R. 5th. 


21. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


21. 


B. takes P. (ch.) 


22. 


K. takes B. 


22. 


Q. R. to K. 6th. (ch.) 


23. 


K. to R. 2d. 


23. 


B. to Kt. 2d. 


24. 


Kt. to R. 3. 


24. 


R. takes R. P. (ch.) 


25. 


K. takes R. 


25. 


R. to K. 6th. (ch.) 


26. 


K. to Kt. 4th. 


26. 


B. to B. sq. (ch.) 


27. 


P. to K. B. 5th. 


27. 


Q. to K. Kt. 3d. (ch.) 


28. 


K. to R. 4th. 


28. 


Q. to K. Kt. 6th. (ch.) 


29. 


K. to R. 5th. 


29. 


P. toK. Kt. 3d. (ch.) 


30. 


P. takes P. 


30. 


Q. to K. Kt. 5th. (ch.) 


31. 


K. to R. 6th. 

Check 


31. 
mate. 


Q. to R. 5th. 



It is difficult to commend too highly the play of the ISTew Yorker in 
the former game, and of the New Orleans combatant in the latter. 
They are assuredly among the finest examples of American skill pre- 
vious to the times of Paul Morphy. All the contests were regularly 
reported for the New Orleans Commercial Times, and for the Spirit of 



American Chess. 419 

the Times in JSTew York. The score at the termination of the match 
stood : 

Stanley, 15 Kousseau, 8 Drawn, 8 

In a private letter, dated November 25th, Mr. Stanley gives us the 
follov^ing brief glimpse of New Orleans Chess : — '' The great cause to 
which my mission most particularly relates, flourishes in this city to 
an extent for which I was altogether unprepared. A considerable 
portion of the magnificent reading room at the Merchants' Exchange 
is devoted to the convenience of Chess-players alone, and so far are 
they from neglecting the privilege, that, on a casual visit, I was last 
evening both surprised and delighted to observe that no less than eight 
separate games were progressing at the same time. This formidable 
array of Chess-players, it is necessary to observe, is altogether inde- 
pendent of the more constitutional and regularly organized body of 
amateurs, known as the ' New Orleans Chess Club,' and holding its 
more private meetings. in an apartment adjoining the 'Commercial 
News and Reading-Rooms.' " In this letter, as well as in others writ- 
ten at the same period, Mr. Stanley praises, in no measured terms, the 
unbounded hospitality and agreeable courtesy of the players of New 
Orleans. 

In the year following the great match the Club was again disorga- 
nized, and the amateurs of the city had no other place of Assembly 
than the Exchange Reading-Rooms. Here in 1850 and 1851, might 
sometimes have been seen a young boy, opposing with the courage, 
the caution, and the success of manhood the best players of the city. 
Around his board the elite of the Chess world of New Orleans were 
collected. This child was the future hero of the Congress — the future 
conqueror of the Chess kings of Europe. His story and the account 
of the visit of Lowenthal to New Orleans in 1850 are elsewhere given. 
Among Paul Morphy's chief opponents at home were Mr. Rousseau, 
Mr. Ernest Morphy, and Mr. James McConnell. 

The present efficient Chess Club of New Orleans was founded in 
1857, under the presidency of Mr. Paul Morphy. Mr. Rousseau has 
altogether abandoned Chess, and Mr. Ernest Morphy resides in a dis- 
tant State. But, besides its President, the Club nevertheless numbers 
many players of marked ability, among whom the first, perhaps, is the 
Secretary, Mr. Charles Amedee Maurian.* Beyond his reputation as a 

* Mr. Maurian is one or two years younger than his friend, Mr. Paul Mor- 
phy, with whom he has contested a multitude of games at various odds, and 



420 Incidents in the History of 

very strong and brilliant player, Mr. Maurian has acquired a deserved 
fame as a Chess writer through his editorship of a Chess column in the 
Sunday Delta. The Club, for two months after its formation, met in 
Victory street, between Frenchmen and Elysian Fields, in the third 
district ; it afterwards moved to its present quarters, corner of Canal 
and Exchange alley, in the second district, exactly opposite the rooms 
occupied by the Club in 1844 and 1845. 



X. 

THE HISTORY 
OF THE 

AUTOMATON CHESS-PLAYER IN AMERICA. 

A LETTTEE ADDRESSED TO 

WILLIAM LEWIS ESQ., LONDON. 

It will be matter of surprise to no student of Chess-science, 
even in our own country, that I should have begged permis- 
sion to address to yo^^, my dear Sii', any paper which I might 
be called upon to contribute to the Book of the First Ameri- 
can Chess-Congress. It will at once be imderstood, by such 
a reader, that I wished, so far as in me lay, to see formally 
put forward, in that monument of our Chess-history, the 
honored name of the venerable cotemporary author, whose 
peculiar and undisputed glory it is, to have made himself the 
mediator between Del Rio and Philidor, and to have become 
the real founder of the great Modern School of Chess.* Few, 
however, of my countrymen will suspect, that I had any better 
reason for connecting your name with an essay so far removed 
from Chess-analysis, as this poor letter on the Kempelen 

whose instruction he has been fortunate enough to enjoy. The two friends 
studied and graduated at the same college. 

* I quote the authoritative opinion of the German Handhuch des Schach- 
spiels by von Bilguer and von der Lasa. 



American Chess. 421 

Automaton, than the simple, yet convincmg one, that I was 
competent to write nothing more scientific to connect it with. 
Few will guess, that my thoughts first turned to you, at the 
moment when I had pursued the career of Maelzel's last 
Director to his early death in a strange land ; and that the 
link of association between poor Schlumberger and yourself, 
was the fact, that you too, in your youthful days, had borne 
the same relation to the mysterious Turk as he. It was, in 
reality, to the sole survivor of all the Directors of the Automa- 
ton that my imagination wandered from the deathbed of the 
last. It was to you, therefore — Firsts as the greatest of the 
great players, that had lent their inspiration to the wood and 
iron of the grand old Hungarian ; and Secondly^ as the Nestor 
of living Chess-authors, that I applied for that permission, 
which was so readily and so courteously granted, of giving 
my imperfect historical sketch the form of a letter to yourself. 
It is with no affectation of self-disparagement that I call my 
sketch imperfect. It is really so ; partly because I could not, 
under the circumstances, avail myself of many of the materials 
which still exist, and partly because many of the most interest- 
ing materials have perished with the witnesses, whose memory 
was the sole depository of them. My original commission 
from the acting editor of the Book was but to form a record 
of what Automaton anecdotes could be collected in my own 
city ; and it was not until this comparatively easy task had 
been accomplished, and I was innocently expecting a call for 
my MS., that I was suddenly informed — some half year or so 
(sooth to say) after the whole work was fairly to have been 
published — that I must enlarge the narrow field of my re- 
searches by the small addition of all the rest of our North 
American continent. Along with this order of my youthful 
Pharaoh, I received such allowance of straw, as might be con- 
tained in a sheet of newspaper extracts from Boston, and a 
year's dates from New York. This was undoubtedly one of 

" The wrongs that tempt the spirit to rebel ;" 



422 . Incidents in the History of 

but the subject had become really interesting to me, and I 
had formed a habit of treating an editor's behests as too sacred 
to be safely disregarded. Late as it was, I was even sanguine 
enough to hope — after having succeeded so well in my exami- 
nation of our own city newspapers — that I could, at least, 
form a complete " Itinerary," so far as dates and places were 
concerned, of the Automaton's twelve years' progress through 
our continent. But even this has proved to be impossible. 
Our own libraries furnished me with few files of newspapers be- 
sides our own ; and when I invited any resident of another city 
to examine their old journals, he soon found the task too in- 
tolerably wearisome to be continued. Even applications for 
less exact information — for mere traditional recollections of 
Maelzel's exhibitions — did not always secure any satisfactory 
result — nay, they did not always secure even the notice of 
an answer. To be sure, in the midst of these discourage- 
ments, now and then a rich vein of information was unex- 
pectedly struck upon. Such were the thorough newspaper 
researches of my friends in Boston and New York ; the in- 
teresting personal recollections of my Baltimore and Cincin- 
nati correspondents ; and the acute investigations of a pro- 
fessional friend into the affair of Eugene Beauharnois. 

Such godsends as these lead me to hope, that much more 
material, equally interesting, may still be in store for me, if I 
continue to amuse myself — as I possibly may — with these plea- 
sant and perplexing inquiries ; but it is discouraging to reflect, 
how large an amount of testimony — in reference especially to 
the personal history of Maelzel and his Director — has been 
destroyed, and only lately, too, by time, or removed by death. 
All the papers of Maelzel that were once in the possession of Mr. 
Ohl, his correspondence with Mr. Willig, the evidences of his 
successes and his losses, have perished by different processes 
of destruction. The old Philadelphians, who had been the 
confidants of the proprietor of the Automaton, or who had 
most frequently played with its director, are nearly all dead — 
some of them having departed only a short time before I had 



American Chess. 423 

begun to be interested in this curious piece of history. Still, 
as two such witnesses w^ere thrown in my w^ay, even after my 
MS. was ready for the press, I do not despair that some other 
living depositaries of Automaton tradition will yet be found, 
whose revelations may enrich some future republication or 
rlfachnento of this grave work of my hours of relaxation. 
In the meanwhile — not to keep the world in ignorance of such 
details as I am already prepared to communicate — I proceed 
to my epistolary tale. 



That Maelzel should have conceived and executed the scheme of an 
exhibition-tour through America, after having spent eight years with 
his Automaton in three of the capitals of Western Europe, would seem 
to be the most natural thing in the world, without going at all below 
the surface of the question. For, first, the novelty of the exhibition 
must, in that time, have gradually worn off, and its attractiveness 
must have diminished in proportion; and, secondly, the secret must 
have insensibly leaked out, with the same injurious effect. Maelzel, too, 
was notoriously fond of travelhng. Even the scanty glimpses of his 
biography, which are all we get, show him at one time at Vienna, at 
another at Kaples ; this invention dates from Frankfort, and that from 
Amsterdam ; now he is in Paris, and now in London ; not to mention 
his unrecorded tour, with the Automaton, through the Grerman cities, 
between 1805 and 1812. The visit to America has, notwithstanding, its 
secret history. M. Fetis, for example, informs us, that Maelzel's '' Direc- 
tors " quarrelled with him, and exposed his secret, and that therefore he 
was obliged to seek a new country.* This statement is probably incor- 
rect. I do not think that Maelzel had any other Director, after 1819, 
than Mouret ; and I doubt if Mouret revealed the secret of the xiutoma- 
ton — or, at least, that he did it in any public way — ^before 1834, when 
Maelzel had been absent from Europe eight years.t But there is 

* I cite here and elsewhere from the article Maelzel in Fetis's Biographic 
Universelle des Musiciens. t. vi. 

f " Mouret," says Mr. Walker, '' sold the secret of his prison-house to the 
French Penny Magazine." I suppose, therefore, that the article Automate 
Joueur d'EcJiecs in the Mag azin Pitioresque for 183.4, p. 155, was made up from 
communications famished by this very skilful player, who, after having been 



424 Incidents in the History of 

another statement, given in the last volume of La Bourdonnais's Palamede^ 
which has been proved to be substantially correct by private informa- 
tion, which I have myself collected. 

The story is this. — In 1809, Maelzel, by virtue of his office as '^ Mecha- 
nician to the Court " (Hof-Mechanihus)^ was occupying some portion 
of the Palace of Schonbrunn, when Napoleon chose to make the same 
building his head-quarters during the Wagram campaign. It was then 
and there (and not in 1805 nor in Berlin*) that Napoleon played that 
famous game of Chess with the Automaton, the particulars of which, 
if I may trust several careful reporters of Maelzel' s own account, have 
been not a little distorted, embellished, and multiphed.t In 1812, the 
Duke of Saxe- Weimar — the same who travelled in the United States — 

the Chess-preceptor of the sons of Louis Philippe, sank into habits of intem- 
perance, and died in 1837. He was, therefore, in the lowest stage of his 
degradation when he betrayed the secret of his old employer. 

* The story runs, that Kempelen sold the Automaton to Frederick the 
Great, about the year 1785, I suppose, and left it in his possession. It has 
therefore been inferred^ that Napoleon must have seen it at Berlin, after the 
battle of Jena. But Kempelen died with it in his own possession on the 26th 
day of March, 1804, and his son — his filius carnalis (as Blackwood calls 
him) — sold this other son of his father to Maelzel very soon after. These 
facts seem to prove that Kempelen could have sold nothing to Frederick but 
the secret ; and even of that I am incredulous, so far, at least, as the pecu- 
niary consideration is concerned. 

f This remark applies, I am sorry to say, to the account given by my 
friend, the author of an interesting article in the first volume of the Chess 
Monthly^ the materials for which were furnished by the late lamented Dr. 
Mitchell. That estimable gentleman supposed himself (as he said) to be 
merely recording what he had been told by Maelzel himself; but I am cer- 
tain, that in some particulars he mistook for recollections of Maelzel's conver- 
sation what were really recollections of a newspaper translation ofDe Tournay's 
article in the Palamede^ and that in others he mixed up some faint impressions 
left by Windisch's pamphlet with what a certain witness said he had heard 
from Maelzel. All of this was very natural in the case of an elderly man look- 
ing back over the dim space of from twenty to thirty years. I venture to 
oppose to such unsatisfactory testimony the perfect coincidence of two gentle- 
men of very accurate habits of mhid, in their separate and distinct reports of 
what they had learned directly from Maelzel himself — I mean Dr. J. I. Cohen, 
of Baltimore, and Dr. C. F. Schmidt, of Cincinnati. The " fighting face to face," 
the " lady's shawl," the "magnets," the "striding over Knight and Pawn," 
must be dismissed, I fear, as apocryphal. 



American Chess. 425 

saw the Automaton, abandoned (as I understand) to inglorious repose, in 
the Casa Buonaparte at Milan, the capital of Eugene Beauharnois, then 
Viceroy of the kingdom of Italy.* At some period after 1809 and 
before 1812, whether at Munich, the residence of Eugene's father-in- 
law (where Maelzel at one time lived as Hof-Mechanikus to his own 
sovereign also), or at Milan itself, the lively young Viceroy was a wit- 
ness to the wondrous exhibition of the Automaton, and was so be- 
witched by the mystery, that he bought the whole affair — mechanism, 
mystery, Maelzel and all — ^for thirty thousand francs. He then went 
to Russia to storm the redoubt at Borodino, and came home to fight 
for his vice-regal dominions, until he had secured a tolerable equivalent 
in the territory of his royal father-in-law. Maelzel went about his 
business — ^perfecting and exhibiting various inventions — until he settled 
down at Paris, in 1816, as a member of the firm of J. Maelzel & Co., 
established for the manufacture and sale of the Metronome, I suppose 
he left his partner to attend to the factory and the shop, for in 1817 
(according to Fetis) he returned to Vienna. The chief object of his 
journey, however, did not lie in Vienna, but in the capital of Bavaria; 
and his business was with the Prince Duke of Leuchtenberg — the new 
title of Eugene Beauharnois. The truth is, Maelzel had taken a fancy 
to renew his old adventurous travels with the ''turban'd Turk;" and 
him he sought — no longer at Milan but at Munich ; for Eugene was 
under no obligation, while surrendering his dominions to the Austrian, to 
leave behind him his property. One would suppose, that Maelzel could 
have had no difficulty in getting possession again of what was no 
longer of any use to Eugene. We should have expected the Prince 
to say, "I have had all I wanted of it — its secret; nor have I paid for it 
more than it became a prince to pay. For you it can earn bread. Take 
it again, and live by it as before." But Maelzel did not expect, I pre- 
sume, and certainly did not get, so easy a bargain. The ex- viceroy 

* See the Duke of Saxe- Weimar's Travels in North America (Philadelphia, 
1828), vol. ii. p. 197. I find the following note in Cancellieri's Giuoco degli 
Scacchi (Venezia, 1824), p. 163 — II dottissimo mio amico Cav. Millin nel T. I. 
del sue Voyage dans le Milanais^ p. 81, riferisce, che le celebre Automate^ 
Jouewr des Echecs, apres avoir parcouru VEurop)e^ est rests a Milan dans la 
maison hdtie par le Gomte Ludovico de Belgiojoso. Millin's book was published 
in 1817, but his tour was made, I believe, in 1812. I presume, therefore, 
tiiat the Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Millin both saw the Automaton in the 
same year and in the same house. 



426 Incidents in the History of 

was known to possess the virtue of clinging to his goods and chattels 
with a peculiarly tenacious grasp— in short, he was un peu avare.^ 
Instead, therefore, of any such Haroun-al-Raschid proceeding as I 
have suggested above, he sat down to consider how he might part 
with the bread-winning Automaton to its old owner, even without 
present payment (which was out of the question), in such a way as to 
turn an investment, hitherto unproductive, into quite a profitable specu- 
lation. It is not perfectly clear what terms the Prince finally came down 
to, far less what were the details of the mutual chaffering. The Avriter 
m the Palamede makes the result a kind of partnership in an exhibition- 
tour — the title of the Automaton was to remain in the princely owner, 
and Maelzel was to pay the interest of the original cost as his partner's 
fair proportion of the profits. But another account — current, I believe, 
at Munich — makes the transaction to have been a sale : Maelzel bought 
back the Automaton for the same thirty thousand francs, and was to 
pay for it out of the profits of his exhibitions — *' Provided, nevertheless," 
that Maelzel was not to leave the Continent to give such exhibitions. 
The latter account I believe to be the more correct one.t 

After an exhibition season in Paris, which I suppose to have been 
the winter and spring of 1817 and '18, Maelzel went over to Lon- 
don in the latter part of the year 1818. So, at least, I infer from the 
date of a game played by you, my dear Sir, as Director of the Auto- 
maton. | Here, I am informed^ difficulties began with the Duke 
of Leuchtenberg, who is said to have complained of the visit to Eng- 
land as an infringement of the condition not to leave the continent. 
I can hardly believe that Maelzel could ever have consented not to visit 
the best field in Europe for his operations, or that Eugene could have 
put such an interpretation upon a condition so worded. It is more 
likely that Maelzel — who, in this country, bore the reputation of the 

* The reader may find this charge of stinginess (if one dare call it so) gently 
stated, and gently refuted, in the article devoted to Eugene in the Siippleme7it 
to the Biograpliie Universelle of the brothers Michaud. 

f Such portions of this statement as are not based on the articles in the 
Palamede (vols. i. and iv. of La Bourdonnais's series), were communicated to 
me by Dr. Sclimidt, who learned them partly, I believe, in New York, and 
partly during a residence at Munich, in the years 1827 and '28. The papers 
of the lawsuit at Paris, in 1825, if they could be got at, would give the real 
particulars of the affair. 

X Chess Players' Chronicle, YoL 4, page 18, "Game played by the Chess 
Automaton and Mr. S s, at Spring Gardens, 31st Dec. 1818." 



American Chess. 427 

promptest and most liberal of paymasters — was slow to believe that the 
step-son of Napoleon really intended to exact from him the paltry 
sum which he had bargained for, and that he allowed too long a time 
to elapse before paying the first instalment of the purchase-money at 
Eugene's banker's. This first difficulty — so my information runs — was 
peaceably settled, and Maelzel continued to exhibit in England for a year 
or two more.* He then returned to Paris, and — after what interval I 
know not — proceeded from thence to Amsterdam, where he appears to 
have been in 1821 and 1822.t It may not be fair to infer from 
Mouret's story J — the scene of which is laid in the Dutch capital — that 
Maelzel's exhibitions had been less successful in Holland than in Eng- 
land or France. Everywhere he was likely sometimes to be out of 
money, for he was always expending large sums upon mechanical 
experiments — not to mention such other objects as Fetis has specified 
with as little of circumlocution as of misgiving. But either his Dutch 
exhibitions had not brought him back to Paris rich, or the profits of his 
last Paris exhibitions did not find their way to his banker's, for when 
Eugene pressed hard for another instalment, nothing was forthcoming. 
At last either Eugene himself, or his heirs — for he died in 1824 — com- 
menced legal proceedings against the unpaying Maelzel. The writer in 
the Palamede adds, that the record of this lawsuit even disclosed the 
secret of the mechanism. This part of the statement I should more 
readily believe, if I could see what the secret had to do with the objects 
of the prosecution, and if it were not as much the interest of the Leuch- 
tenberg family, as of Maelzel, to keep alive that mystery, to which they 
too looked as the best security for getting their pay. But whether the 
secret was exposed or not, Maelzel may have conceived, that he should 
like his princely creditors just as well, if he were not quite so near 
them, and that it would be wise to abandon a field, which, already 
pretty well exhausted, had at length begun to bristle with the briars 
and brambles of the law. One of my authorities assures me, that he 

"^ Here, again, my authority is Dr. Schmidt. 

f I say this, because Maelzel's difficulty with Winkel, in reference to the 
Metronome^ occurred at Amsterdam during one of these years, and while he 
was there with his Automaton. (See Fetis, and the Bevue Encyclopedique^ 
t. xvi , p. 405. 

:|: This story (of which, after all, I do not believe a word) was first given in 
De Tournay's article (Palamede^ t. i.) — then in "Walker's paper in Fraser's 
Magazine [Chess and Chess-players^ p. 35,) — then in Tomlinson's Am^use- 
wcTife— and so everywhere. 



428 Incidents in the History of 

" ran away " from Europe, partly to escape the consequences of the 
suit, and partly because it Avas only by running away that he could 
carry off the Automaton from the Continent. The latter part of this 
statement may be correct — it is quite possible, that Maelzel may not 
have chosen to ask the consent of the Leuchtenbergs to his under- 
taking so distant an adventure. But there is evidence that the law- 
suit itself was so far settled, that a balance was struck, and that 
security for this sum (four thousand francs) was given, in some form, 
upon the Automaton itself. But another authority assures me, that 
this statement — so far as the ^' absconding " is concerned — cannot be 
correct, and that Maelzel came to this country with the consent and 
concurrence of his creditors. One circumstance, however, bespeaks 
either haste or poverty — Maelzel embarked for America without a 
^'Director" — a step so contrary to his usual course, that it can be 
explained only by his want of present means to secure to a superior 
player an adequate remuneration, or by his leaving Paris too suddenly 
to permit his concluding any such treaty at all. 

Under such circumstances — with such additional motives engrafted 
on those of voluntary enterprise and love of change — Maelzel pro- 
ceeded to Havre, and, on the 20th of December, 1825, embarked on 
board the packet-ship Hoioard^ Capt. Eldridge, for the New World. 
He landed at New York on the 3d of February, 1826. His arrival 
was announced in the ^' Ship News," as that of '' Mr. Maelzel, Pro- 
fessor of Music and Mechanics, inventor of the Panharmonicon, the 
Musical Time-Keeper, &c." He appears to have called, as soon 
as possible, upon Mr. Coleman, the editor of the Evening Post — to 
whom it is probable he had some letters of introduction — and to have 
enlisted him at once among the friends of his enterprise. The Auto- 
maton Chess-player — not mentioned in the ^' Ship News" — was imme- 
diately introduced to the public by an attractive editorial ; and every- 
thing seemed to indicate, that the novel exhibition — accounts of which 
had from time to time reached our shores — would speedily be opened 
to the public. But these appearances were deceptive. Maelzel's 
Exhibition was not opened until after the lapse of nearly two months. 
I do not know whether this delay need be accounted for in any other 
way, than by recollecting, that Maelzel was a G-erman and not a 
Yankee, and consequently that he had no taste for doing things in a 
hurry. He had his exhibition-room to fit up, his boxes to unpack, and 
a substitute for his proper Director to train in the management of the 
mechanism and in the playing of his select End-games. This will be 



American Chess. 429 

better understood, when I say, that Maelzel was obliged, at the outset, 
to confide the direction of his Automaton to a woman^ whom he had 
brought over with him — the wife of the man who guided the motions 
of his rope-dancers. Sucii an extemporised Directress must, of course, 
have required a good deal of instruction. 

I have been told, however, that there was another and more serious 
cause of this two months' delay. The watchful representatives of the 
deceased ex- viceroy had no mind to allow their legal balance of nearly 
eight hundred dollars to slip through their fingers, after having faith- 
fully sought to recover it in the hard ways of the law. They therefore 
sent over their claim — following closely on the heels of Maelzel — to a 
foreign consul and banker in New York, with extremely judicious in- 
structions as to the manner of collecting it. Whatever trespass or 
crime Maelzel might have committed, in carrying off the Automaton 
from the Continent, and whatever wholesome fears of future processes 
might be suspended over his head, he was in no wise so to be dealt 
with that he could not exhibit : — in other words, the well-educated 
Leuchtenbergs had '' thumbed their ^sop" to good purpose, and still 
bore in mind the lessons of the hen that laid the golden egg. It was 
these molestations — says my informer — that so long kept back the 
expected exhibition of the mysterious Chess-Player. For my own 
part, I do not see how measures growing out of such instructions 
could have produced any such effect, unless Maelzel had wished to 
show his princely creditors, that he did not choose to be in so great a 
hurry to raise money for them, as they might Avish. I therefore 
incline to think, that the message of the Leuchtenbergs came over 
rather later, and that it had nothing to do with either accelerating or 
retarding the slow and easy way in which the proprietor of the Auto- 
maton went about getting up his exhibition.* 

But, whatever may have been the cause of the delay, at length, on 
the 11th of April, the pubHc were informed by advertisement, that the 

* I may add, upon reflection, that Maelzel appears everywhere, as well as 
at New York, to have consumed a great deal of time in the preparations for 
opening his exhibitions, and that he did so — not merelj^ from the German 
Gelassenheit mentioned in the text — but from an excessive particularity, 
which made him the standing torment and despair of the mechanics, whom 
he had at work for the purpose. It was all the same to him, whether the 
money spent in this way was likely to be more or less than his receipts — the 
work must be perfect in its kind, even if it had to be knocked in pieces and 
made over again at his expense. 



430 Incidents in the History of 

Exhibition of the Chess- Player, along with the Austrian Trumpeter, 
and the Eope-dancers, would be opened on Thursday evening, the 
13th, at the National Hotel, I^o. 112 Broadway, where Maelzel him- 
self was lodging : — for such was his habit or his system — he liked 
always to hve in the closest connexion with all his agents, animate and 
inanimate ; and if they could not take rooms with him^ he usually took 
rooms with them. His friend of the Post had done what he could to 
excite the curiosity of the public, by assuring them, that the secret of 
the Automaton had, for fifty years, eluded the researches of the 
ingenious and the scientific, and had puzzled the mathematical Dr. 
Hutton himself Only about a hundred persons, however, answered to 
the call, on the 13th ; but the intense and peculiar excitement, which 
the mysterious exhibition of the evening enkindled in this small 
company, converted each and all of them into such zealous preachers of 
the glories of the Turk, that presently a hundred apphcants for admit- 
tance had to be excluded every day, for want of room. The news- 
papers now needed no application from Maelzel to resound the wonders 
of his mechanism : — they were filled with detailed accounts of his 
exhibitions, with communications that revealed his secret, and with 
confutations that made the revelations ridiculous. Nay, one of the 
editors feels bound to apologize for " permitting the Automaton to 
occupy so much of his columns, but persons at a distance (he says) can 
form no idea how much the attention of our citizens is occupied by it." 
To meet the popular demand, Maelzel was obhged soon — if he did not 
do so from the first — to give two exhibitions every day — one at noon, 
and the other in the evening. 

At these exhibitions, the Automaton played only end-games : — such 
a player as Maelzel's '' Directress" could not be matched, in any other 
way, with the New York amateurs ; but other reasons were given, 
which were for a while received as satisfactory. These end-games 
were presented to the adversary, at his own separate board, outside 
of the silken cord, on printed diagrams filled up in pencil, with liberty 
to choose his side ; but the first move the Automaton reserved for him- 
self.* A little book, bound in green morocco, which was found 

* It may be worth while to say, that the space, within which the Automa- 
ton was exhibited, was separated from the rest of the hall by a silken cord. 
In Yon Kempelen's day, the antagonist played upon the Turk's own board ; 
but Maelzel always placed a table, with a board, without the cord, at one 
side, in order — as was given out — not to intercept the view of the audience. ' 



American Chess. 431 

among Maelzel's effects after his death, contained the entire collection 
of situations, from which the selections were made for the exhibitions. 
On examining this little book carefully, I satisfied myself that it was 
made up in England, and perhaps by yom'self. The larger number of 
the positions, I have traced to your Oriental Chess^ to joiir Prohlems^ 
and to your favorite authors, Stamma, Lolh, and others."^^ They must 
have been selected, after very careful study, as positions, which would 
give the Automaton a won game, with the move, even when he had 
what was originally meant to be the wrong side. It generally happened, 
however, that such kind of players, as usually measured themselves 
with the Turk at the exhibitions, were pretty sure to choose the side 
that had the Queen or the largest number of pieces ; and to lay a 
further trap for their unsophisticated simplicity, Maelzel had the kind- 
ness to indicate, by large numerals, in his heavy G-erman handwriting, 
the precise number of pieces on either side. At the first exhibition, 
for instance, the position set up was the forty-first of Stamma (in 
your edition the sixty- eighth), wherein Black — who was bound to 
lose — ^had the advantage of a pawn, and that too a passed pawn, 
within one step of the royal line. The adversary of course chose the 
side of Black, and lost (say the newspapers) in five moves. Against 
such an adversary, even the female Director could be safely risked 
with a change of sides : — the pieces were set up again ; the Automaton 

Maelzel was constantly passing between the Automaton and the adversary's 
table to repeat each move on the board of the other party. When IsTapoleon 
appeared to be about to pass the cord, at Schonbrunn, Maelzel checked him 
with. '^ Slre^ il est clefendu de passer outre:''' the Emperor immediately 
acquiesced, with a good-natured Eh Men ! and took his seat at the little table 
on bis own side of the cord. His conduct throughout appears to have been 
pleasant and gentlemanly, perfectly free from the bad taste so foolishly 
affirmed of it. It is probable, that the player, who, on this occasion, had the 
honor of beating the "Yictor in a hundred battles," was Allgaier: — it is 
certain, at least, that he was at one time a Director of the Automaton for 
Maelzel. 

* The book is evidently of English make, and the figures pasted into the 
squares of the diagrams, are such as never appeared in any book besides Mr. 
Lewis's Oriental Chess. Hence I was disposed to conjecture, that the collec- 
tion was made exclusively by Mr. Lewis. I have been informed, however, 
by a gentleman,- who assisted Maelzel temporarily in 1826, that both Des- 
chapelles and Mouret did something towards making up the tale of eighteen 
situations. 



432 Incidents in the History of 

took the Black — with the first move, however — and won again in 
about the same number of moves. " The figure was then removed 
amid great and deserved plaudits," — plaudits, I may observe, which 
were more readily given to Maelzel than they would have been to any 
other exhibitor. He stood before the visitors of his room^ by no means 
as a showman, but as a great inventor. Such he had proved himself 
to be by his Panharmonicon and his Rope-dancers ; such he appeared 
to be, where he was less original, in his Metronome and his Trumpeter ; 
and a genius that could do so much was half believed to be capable of 
inventing a machine that could calculate the combinations of Chess. 
And not his talents alone — his appearance and manners attracted the 
applause of his visitors. He was the perfection of politeness and 
amiability; he was passionately fond of children, and invariably 
reserved for them his front seats and distributed sweetmeats among 
them; and he occasionally gave a benefit to orphans, or widows, or 
some other charity, in a way that evinced real benevolence of dis- 
position. 

There was no reason, however, why the secret of even so polite and 
popular an exhibitor should not be perseveringly pried into by people 
so ingenious and so curious as my countrymen. One of the newspa- 
pers — the Evening Post^ in particular — remarked that Maelzel's secret 
had been guessed, at least a dozen times, before. the first exhibition- 
week had expired. One man was sure, that when Maelzel made the 
adversary's move on the Turk's board, he indicated by his mode of 
putting down the piece the answer which the concealed player was 
to make ; another man wrote him an anonymous letter — with which 
Maelzel was enough amused to preserve it among his few papers — 
informing him, that he had seen him touch certain springs on either 
side of the board. All of these things were precisely what Maelzel 
would have wished people to say — they gave him occasion to enhance 
the mystery of his mechanism by such decisive practical refutations. 
At one time he would remain twenty feet distant from the Automaton, 
except when he approached it to make the adversary's move ; at an- 
other, he played at the separate table against the Automaton, and 
allowed the adversary to make the move upon the Automaton's board. 
There is no doubt, that on such occasions he had his understanding 
with the adversary. But, then, there was one mode of guessing at his 
secret, which gave Maelzel much more trouble. Some people had a 
fashion of counting his household, and of wondering how it invariably 
happened, that a certain Frenchwoman could be seen at all times, except 



American Chess. 433 

during the first hour of the exhibitions. To put a stop to such trou- 
blesome speculations and to keep them out of the newspapers, Maelzel 
resorted to a tour de force. He went to his friend Coleman ; told him 
his secret ; and engaged his son to officiate occasionally as the concealed 
director of the Automaton, while the Frenchwoman aforesaid should 
enact the part of the adversary. Nobody could be more jealous of his 
secret than Maelzel habitually was ; but he had an extremely acute 
perception of character ; and when he found he must tell his secret, he 
always told it to such as were sure never to betray it. Young Cole- 
man was ready enough to pay for the honor of possessing a secret, 
shared by so few, by rendering Maelzel the occasional assistance which 
he needed. Two other persons, at least, were also taken into Maelzel' s 
confidence ; but I do not feel at liberty to mention their names. One 
of them, I may say, was a young countryman of Maelzel's, to whom 
— after a short acquaintance — he felt it safe to entrust his chess-men, 
to have them magnetized again. The good-natured Maelzel was dis- 
posed to reward his young friend for this confidential service. One 
day, therefore, when they were alone together, in the exhibition-room, 
Maelzel entreated his assistance to lift off the top of the Automaton — 
whereupon, to the youthful G-erman's amazement, up rose the tall 
figure of a well-known scientific gentleman, who had succeeded Cole- 
man in the possession of the great secret. These three young men 
acted as amateur-directors in turn ; and occasionally one would play, at 
the exhibitions, against his concealed confederate. Maelzel was cer- 
tainly much relieved by their kind co-operation — especially after he 
had been deserted (as I understand he was) by his female assistant ; 
but I do not think that his secret was either more or less protected by 
this arrangement. 

Maelzel had always taken the precaution of renouncing beforehand 
any claim of absolute invincibility on the part of his Automaton ; but 
he was aware that nothing, save the discovery of the secret, could do 
him more harm than to have his Automaton beaten. In Europe, he 
had done his best to secure constant victory by making an alliance 
with the very strongest players of the day ; in this country he had 
thus far relied upon confining the playing at the exhibitions to end- 
games. But in spite even of this precaution he had the mortification 
— and it was always a great mortification to him — of seeing his Auto- 
maton beaten twice in New York. In one of these instances the end- 
game was the Position of three pawns against three pawns, which 
forms the Frontispiece of Mr. Cochrane*s Treatise, Such a position 

19 



434 Incidents in the History of 

was too striking not to be remembered by visitors of the exhibition, 
so as consequently to be set up and analysed in private. A young 
player had thus studied the position, and happened to be present soon 
after when it was proposed by Maelzel : he played the right moves, 
and won. In the other case of defeat, it is said that Maelzel, out of 
courtesy, had permitted the adversary to take the first move. 

It is, I believe, the common opinion, that Maelzel expected to find 
no Chess-players of any strength, in this country, and that he calcu- 
lated on satisfying the visitors of his exhibitions with end-games alone, 
and on being able, in this way, to sustain the reputation of his Auto- 
maton without going to the expense of engaging a superior director. 
Nothing was further from the disposition or views of Maelzel — a most 
sagacious and liberal man — than such a calculation as this; and no 
one could have felt greater annoyance, I am persuaded, than he did, at 
being obliged to find excuses for not allowing entire games to be played 
here, as he was known to have done in Europe. Tliat he brought no 
director with him is, in fact, decisive evidence of what I have said 
before — that he left Europe in haste and under some kind of embar- 
rassment. I have learned, by private information, that, hurried as he 
was, he did not embark without having entered into treaty with a 
strong player of the Caft de la Rtgence^ who was to follow him upon 
receiving from him the requisite remittance of money for his passage. 
Maelzel could have been in no condition to make such remittance until 
after he had opened his exhibition ; but as soon as money began to 
flow in upon him so freely from that source he sent hastily over for his 
foreign director. It was, however, long before the days of ocean- 
steamers or even of frequent packets of any kind, and Maelzel could 
not calculate on waiting much less than three months, even if his sum- 
mons should be obeyed by return packet. So anxious, however, was 
he to silence the murmurs of those who called for entire games, and to 
remove from the first scene of his Chess warfare in this country, with 
flying colors, that he was impatient for the speedy junction of his new 
ally, and was sadly disappointed and mortified (I understand) that the 
Havre packet did not bring him before the close of the exhibition in 
New York. There was, at least, one singular thing to be accounted 
for in connexion with this New York exhibition. He had closed it 
about the first of June, with the intention of proceeding to Boston, 
when he appeared suddenly to have changed his mind ; for he adver- 
tised on the sixth of June, that " he had concluded again to exhibit his 
automata in New York ; but that, as they had been packed up for the 



American Chess. 435 

intended visit to Boston, a week or two must expire before they could 
be ready for inspection." It has been stated to me, as an explanation 
of this singular delay in New York, that Maelzel was detained, against 
his will, by the agent of the Leuchtenberg family, and that he did not 
recover his freedom of motion until he had finally liquidated the ba- 
lance of the claim against him. This balance, it may be recollected, 
was now no more than eight hundred dollars; and I do not think 
there was any day, after the month of April, on which Maelzel could 
not have paid so trifling a sum in a moment. I infer, therefore, either 
that the balance had been paid long before this first of June, or that 
Maelzel approached the payment of this particular claim with the pro- 
foundest reluctance and disgust — a feeling in which I must honestly 
confess, that I do myself heartily sympathize. I am disposed to be- 
lieve, however, that Maelzel had decided upon this after-exhibition 
from some expectation, which he had been led to form, that his foreign 
director would arrive in season to take part in it. If so, he was dis- 
appointed ; and on the fifth of July he was obliged to close his exhibi- 
tion in New York, and to proceed to Boston, without the satisfaction 
of having displayed the power of his Automaton in full games, and 
with the keen mortification of having been obliged at last to pay, unto 
the uttermost farthing, his Imperial Highness Eugene Napoleon's 
^'little bill."* 

At Boston, Maelzel fitted up for his exhibition-room Julien Hall, at 
the corner of Milk and Congress streets. Here also he carried out his 
favorite plan of lodging in company with his automata, his meals being 
brought to his room in the Hall. His first exhibition was given on 
Wednesday evening, the 13th of September, and was followed regu- 
larly by two exhibitions every day, as in New York. The Bostonians 
had been well prepared to receive him : the excitement of New York 
had been conveyed, in full force, to the eastern capital, and a pamphlet 

* The dates for Maelzel's first campaign in New York (with the exception 
of what I could myself get from the " ship news," etc., copied into the Phila- 
delphia papers) were furnished for me by Mr. Fiske and Mr. "William C. Shaw, 
of New York. A more minute examination of the Evening Post, from 182G 
to 1836, with a fuller account of the results, was made for me by my j^oung 
friend, Mr. Charles Deming Hoyt. "What relates to the doings of the Leuch- 
tenberg family in New York is derived from communications made by Dr. 
Schmidt, of Cincinnati, with important verifications and additions derived 
fi-om the obliging and painstaking researches of F. B. Wightman, Esq., of the 
New York bar. 



436 Incidents in the History of 

specially devoted to the history and analysis of the Automaton Chess- 
player had issued from the Boston press. I need not relate what 
would be but the repetition of my record for New York. The 
Automaton was beaten three times — always in end-games — twice 
because Maelzel courteously gave the antagonist the first move, and 
once because of a blunder on the part of the Director, who, I should 
add, was a young man from New York. The demand for full games 
was loud here also, and Maelzel must have felt even more desirous to 
meet that demand, in order to gratify a public which received him with 
unusual expressions of respect : — it was quite in the character of Bosto- 
nians to treat him, not as an exhibitor, but as an artist, whose great 
talents were recommended by singular courtesy and amiabihty of man- 
ners. Maelzel and his young amateur assistant came into very agree- 
able relations with the principal Boston chess-players, who were gentle- 
men of the highest class ; and it was finally arranged with one of these 
kind friends, that in case the foreign Director should not arrive by the 
next packet, as expected, he should be entrusted with the secret, and 
the direction of the Automaton for full games. But Maelzel was at 
length relieved from the necessity of any further disclosure of his secret 
by the actual arrival of his Director, who had reached New York on 
the 27th of September, on board the same Havre packet in which he 
himself had come over. 

The actor who now came upon the scene, as being the last of a 
remarkable series of Directors, and not unworthy to be ranked with 
them for skill, deserves especial mention. He was one of the leading 
players at the Cafe de la Regence^ but was known there — and is spoken 
of by De Tournay, St. Elme-le-Duc, and St. Amant — only by the 
name of Mulhouse — probably because his own name was less agreeable 
to a French mouth than that of his birth-place. His real name was 
William Schlumberger. He belonged to a wealthy family, which is 
still known by its connexion with some of the most prosperous manu- 
facturing establishments in that manufacturing capital of the Depart- 
ment of the upper Rhine. His education was far superior to what is 
usually expected of one who is destined for business alone. He was 
understood to be decidedly strong in Mathematics; his conversational 
use of both French and Grerman — with which, as an Alsatian, he was 
equally familiar from childhood — was that of one who, by taste and 
education, eschewed everything provincial or ungrammatical ; and the 
only composition of his I have ever seen — a letter of thanks in French 
— was perfect in conception, expression, and style. His education had 1 



American Chess. 437 

even embraced the study of our language ; for he spoke EngHsh, 
although imperfectly, on his arrival, and v^rote it — to judge by a letter 
I have seen, vi^ritten by him for 'Maelzel — vrith very respectable cor- 
rectness. Nay, the interest and discrimination with which, on a certain 
occasion, he ran eagerly through and commented upon Scott's Life of 
Napoleon, at the moment of its publication, evinced a fondness for 
books, and a certain degree of familiarity with current history and 
literature. 

His own account of himself was, that he had entered upon the busi- 
ness life, for which he had been so carefully educated, in Paris, where 
he and his brother were put in charge of the depot of the family esta- 
bhshment at Mulhouse. He was thrown out of business by a commer- 
cial misfortune, and then he began to support himself by giving lessons 
in Chess at the Cafe, de la Regence,^ That he must have begun to fre- 
quent the Cafe long before, to have acquired such superior knowledge 
of the game as to qualify him to be (as he was called) Professeur des 
tehees J is obvious enough ; and it is quite natural to suppose, that he 
may have given to Chess time which he should have devoted to the 
affairs of the depot For, if Chess had been resorted to by him as a 
profession, only because it was one of several means of earning his 
subsistence, all equally agreeable and equally indifferent to him, he 

* St. Amant's account is, that he lost his "patrimony " at play. Now, as it 
is not so disreputable in France as it is here to "gamble," it is not in itself 
impossible that Schlumberger might have visited a "hell ;" and if he did he 
was very likely to have been victimized. Nevertheless, I think M. St.Amant 
to be in error : For, First^ Schlumberger was always simple and veracious in 
what he said, and his own account was confirmed by what Dr. Schmidt heard 
when he was in Paris, among the old associates of MulJwuse, in 1827 or '28. 
Secondly, Schlumberger, during the eleven years he was in this country, was 
never known to have the slightest taste for "gaming" in any form. He was 
never known to play any other games than Chess and Draughts ; nor to play 
those games for money in any other way than as a teacher earning his tuition- 
fee. Thirdly, M. St. Amant, by speaking of his "patrimony," shows himself 
to have been ill-informed of Schlumberger's condition in life, and may be pre- 
sumed to have been equally ill-informed in reference to his habits. I should 
judge that M. St. Amant, who calls Schlumberger "very intelligent," inferred 
from his education that he was not a young man in business, but the heir to 
a hereditary estate ; and, hearing that he had become destitute by losses, 
presumed them to have been a young gentleman's losses — at the gaming- 
table. 



438 Incidents in the History of 

could hardly have become, what he certainly was, as striking an exam- 
ple as ever lived of a perfect Chess-enthusiast : — Chess was to hihi all 
in all. On every other subject he conversed with little animation ; but 
if the slightest association brought up the idea of Chess, and recollec- 
tions of the Cafe de la Regence and its heroes, his conversation became 
full of life and interest. He could not be made happier than by any 
opportunity to descant on the prowess of his hero. La Bourdonnais, 
with whom — in his indifference to the privileges of the position 
wherein he was born and bred ; in his apparent satisfaction at being 
freed from the responsibilities of property and business as a mere clog • 
in his estimate of Chess as the one thing to be lived for — he had, in 
fact, the strongest possible bonds of sympathy. But, unlike La Bour- 
donnais, he had, in money matters, the correct habits of a well-trained 
man of business ; and in Chess, his enthusiasm was associated with a 
German-like seriousness and studiousness, which were utterly unknown 
to the jovial Frenqhman, whose life (it has been said) might be summed 
up in two words — ''He was always either laughing or playing." 

When the celebrated player and writer, M. St. Amant, began to 
frequent the Cafe de la Regence^ about the year 1823, he found Mul- 
house — then a young man but a year or two past twenty-one* — capable 
of playing with La Bourdonnais at no greater odds than the Pawn and 
move, and fully equal to Boncourt and Moure t ; he found him, in fact, 
a player de premiere force — a true '' first rate." Of him, therefore, 
the young St. Amant sought instruction in Chess; and, many years 
later — ^when at the height of his own high reputation — the '' Viceroy of 
La Bourdonnais " gratefully acknowledged, that to the practical demon- 
strations of Schlumberger he owed his first initiation into those grander 
combinations of the game, of which he has himself given such classical 
examples. The subsistence of Schlumberger — dependent solely upon 
his earnings as a Chess-teacher — was undoubtedly, as it appeared 
to M. St. Amant to be, both scanty and precarious ; and his position 
in other respects — with no ties of family or business — was such as to 
mark him out as a proper subject for the offers of Maelzel, who, as a 
resident of Paris, an enthusiastic Chess-player, the employer in succes- 
sion of WeiUe, Alexandre, Boncourt, arid Mouret, and an impresario^ 

* I have tried, without success, to get the date of Schlumberger's birth 
from Mulhouse. According to the judgment formed by some friends, who 
knew him best, he was either born with the century, or not more than a year 
or two earlier. 



American Chess. 439 

always interested to know all proper subjects for an engagement, was 
pretty sure to be familiar with the skill, character, and circumstances 
of every professional player at the Cafi de la Regence^ or at Alexandre's 
Hotel de TEchiquier. M. St. Amant says, that Maelzel "crimped" 
Mulhouse (Vembaucha), under such circumstances, without difficulty. 
Schlumberger, however, never looked upon himself as having been made 
a victim of; he considered himself to have been fairly and kindly 
treated by Maelzel, and remained faithfully attached to his person and 
his interests to the last.* 

When Schlumberger arrived at Boston, about the first of October, 
ne was not received as one either personally or professionally unknown. 
Maelzel, too sagacious to expect to blind entirely the few gentlemen in 
every city, who knew more of Chess and the Chess- world than was to 
be learned in the corner of a parlor and at his exhibition room, never 
affected to disguise from such persons the fact, that he required an 
agent for the operations of his Automaton ; the only ^cret for them — 
and it always remained a tantalizing secret — was how the agent acted 
upon the Automaton, when the ocular demonstration seemed to be 
perfect, that there could be no room for a player within the box. It 
was, therefore, allowed to be known in a certain Chess-circle, consist- 
ing chiefly of Mr. Dexter, Mr. Oliver, Mr. Picquet (the French consul), 
and Mr. Paine, that a strong player from the Cafe de la Eegence had 
arrived, and was hourly expected at Boston. But more than this, Mr. 
Dexter himself had been at Paris, only a few months before, and, 
visiting the great resort of Chess-players in company with Dr. Niles, 
of the American Legation, had seen Schlumberger playing with La 
Bourdonnais ;t and Schlumberger now came to Boston with an intro- 

* I may as well cite here the whole of what M. St. Amant says of his 
teacher, in the first volume of his own series of the Palamede, p. 236: — 
" Nous avons long-temps possede un joueur d'echecs tres intelligent qui fit 
son education au Cafe de la Regence, ou, apres avoir perdu son patrimoine 
au trente et quarante, il etait devenu professeur d'echecs, vivant uniquement 
de trois a quatre francs qu'il y gagnait journellement. Nous Tappelions 
Mulhouse^ du nom de sa patrie. Le directeur de cette Revue lui a robhgation 
particuliere de I'avoir initie aux premieres grandes combinaisons du jeu, par 
une demonstration pratique renouvelee frequemraent. Madhouse etoit emule 
de Mouret etde Boncourt, c'est a direde premiere force apres Labourdonnais." 

f Mr. Dexter saw La Bourdonnais giving Schlumberger the Pawn and 
move and the Pawn and two moves alternatel3^ Schlumberger, always vera- 
cious, said that La Bourdonnais could give him the Pawn and move. I 



440 Incidents in the History of 

duction to Mr. Dexter from their comraon acquaintance, the same Dr. 
Niles. Mr. Dexter, therefore, immediately received him in the midst 
of iiis Chess-playing friends ; and with these gentlemen Schlumberger, 
during his stay in Boston, was henceforth constantly playing, by invi- 
tation, at their houses. He found Mr. Oliver the strongest player of 
the circle ; but neither he nor any other player in the United States, 
at that time, could make any stand before the equal of Alexandre, 
Boncourt, and Mouret, and the worthy antagonist of the '^ King of the 
Chess-board •' himself. He was invited, of course, solely as a Chess- 
player and Chess-teacher; but the invitation came from persons, to 
whose houses Chess would have been no passport, if associated with 
bad habits or bad manners. I find, in fact, that the impression which 
Schlumberger made everywhere, under such circumstances, was in the 
highest degree favorable; all testify, that his manners were gentle- 
manly, and his conduct every way respectable. His countenance was 
remarkably agreeable in expression; his features well-defined and 
handsome ; his nose well-formed and prominent. The admirable for- 
mation of his head, with its dark brown hair, and his beautiful chestnut 
eyes, are always dwelt upon by those who had known him. His fig- 
ure was muscular and w^ell-proportioned, with the drawback which 
Poe has commemorated, of ^^a remarkable stoop in the shoulders." 
Many of Maelzel's directors, Alexandre, Le petit Juif^ and Mouret, had 
been small men ; Schlumberger, like Boncourt, was tall — ^full six feet 
high. Although a rapid Chess-player, he was rather slow of motion, 
and slow of speech. When visiting gentlemen's houses, he was always 
neatly and respectably dressed ; but at all other times he appears to 
have reasoned like Sir Toby Belch, that any clothes were good enough 
to play Chess in, and was by no means careful of his personal appear- 
ance. As one, too, who, for the sake of Chess, had long since shaken 
hands with the conventionalities of social life, he was quite indifferent 
to the class of his lodgings, so they were within the reach of his narrow 
means. In Boston, indeed, he lodged in a superior boarding-house, 
which adjoined Julien Hall ; but in other places, he chose much hum- 
bler quarters, although — wherever Maelzel had a private table in his 
exhibition rooms — the two allies not unfrequently dined together. On 
such occasions, they had, I am told, a most amusing way of keeping 

suppose La Bourdonnais was still trying to give him the greater odds, which 
he may have been able to give him a year or two before, but when he failed, 
consoled himself by falling back upon what he could really afford to give. 



I 



American Chess. 441 

the Chess-board en permanence between them, while making a dehberate 
and gentle progress through the pleasant stages of the savory meal. 
Attacks and comiter-attacks were vehemently carried on, fork in hand. 
Maelzel would meditate a move as he masticated ; and Schlumberger, 
always rapid at Chess, would reply without the loss of a mouthful. 
The severity of '^ desperate situations " was softened to the German's 
heart by copious draughts of claret ; and his French antagonist, in the 
keen pursuit of victory, put the glass often unconsciously to his lips. 
N'either of them was by any means deliberately disposed to intemper- 
ance ; yet if the game happened to be protracted to an extraordinary 
number of moves, Maelzel, to be sure, would be steady as a rock, but 
Schlumberger might, perhaps, murmur his Echec et mat! 'Svith the 
least sign of a hiccup upon him."* 

But to return from these pleasant contemplations to business. In 
the first place, the terms of the oral contract between my two heroes 
were now formally reduced to writing ;t and, as a fortnight elapsed 
before Schlumberger assumed the public direction of the Automaton, I 
infer that it required thus much time to become accustomed to the 
manipulation of the mechanism. Some indiscreet editorial friend did 
indeed announce, on the 4th of October, that full games were soon to 
be played ; but on the 7th he had to acknowledge that he had been 
misinformed. On the 13th Maelzel was out with a very clever card, 
in which he cunningly replied to the boast of a New York editor,]: 
that the Automaton had not been able to cope with any of their 
players in full games, by first complimenting the Boston players with 
being quite equal to the New Yorkers, and then informing them, that 
they should have the opportunity of playing full games with his Auto- 
maton, in private exhibitions, every day, at noon, for a short time. 
Accordingly, on Monday, the 16th of October, Maelzel had the satis- 
faction of seeing his Chess-player occupy the same proud position as it 

* I owe this pleasant picture to the pencil of the humorous and intelligent 
Signer Blitz, who drew from his own observation in 1836 — It will have 
been discovered, that I know Father Tom and the Pope. 

\ The contract was drawn up by a gentleman, then in Boston, who liad 
some business connexions with Maelzel. He merely remembers, that 
Maelzel was to pay Schlumberger fifty dollars a month. No doubt, Schlum- 
berger's travelling expenses were paid in addition. The terms may liave 
been varied afterwards. It is certain, at least, that both parties were perfectly 
satisfied with each other. 

f New York American for Sept. 30th. 

19* 



442 Incidents in the History of 

had done in London, in Paris, and in Amsterdam. Schlumberger 
seconded him as faithfully and as stoutly as the strongest of his former 
directors. It is a httle singular, however, that in tlie evening of that 
same triumphant day, the same Schlumberger should have been beaten 
in an end-game by a mere youth, who came forward, at Maelzel's 
request, because no older player was ready to help fill up the hour. 
Perhaps Maelzel encouraged the youth by allowing him to have the 
first move ; perhaps Schlumberger had not yet sufficiently studied the 
variations of the problem ; perhaps he had dined with Maelzel, and 
their game had had too many moves. A more serious defeat appears 
to have followed during the same week. At one of the mid-day exhi- 
bitions, Schlumberger most unaccountably lost a full game to another 
very young player, to whom he could with ease have given the Eook. 
The same young gentleman, Dr. Benjamin D. Grreen, has since risen to 
eminence iri his profession ; but I doubt if any professional skill or 
success has ever given him so peculiar a distinction, in a certain circle, 
as his having been 'Hhe man that beat the Automaton." Poor 
Schlumberger' s ill luck came near doing still greater mischief On one 
occasion, just as Maelzel was' bringing the Turk out from behind the 
curtain, a strange noise was heard to proceed from his interior organi- 
zation, something between a rattle, a cough, and a sneeze. Maelzel 
pushed back his ally in evident alarm, but presently brought him for- 
ward again, and went on with the exhibition as if nothing had happened.* 
On the 28th of October, after a fortnight of such playing of full 
games, in connexion with the usual evening exhibition, Maelzel closed 
his Boston campaign.! We next hear of him at New York, on his 

* The same mishap, according to M. St. Amant, once occurred in the 
case of Boncourt, at Paris. Perhaps it was in consequence of several dan- 
gerous accidents of this kind, that Maelzel adjusted to the interior of the 
mechanism a terribly noisy spring, which the director had only to touch, 
upon the first admonitory tickling, and then could sneeze or cough as freely 
as he liked, without the least fear of dissolving by his noise the " burden of the 
mystery." 

f T am indebted to Mr. Joseph A. Potter, of Salem, the well-known pro- 
blem composer, for the newspaper dates of Maelzel's visit to Boston. The same 
matter, with copies of editorials, etc., had been already furnished to the edi- 
tor of the "Book of the Congress," by Mr. William H. Kent, of Boston. What- ^ 
ever else I have been able to present has been, gathered for me by the active 
researches of the same gentleman, and communicated to me in a series of 
very agreeable letters. 



American Chess. 443 

way to Philadelphia. It would seem that the New York players had 
not been disposed to acquiesce, with entire satisfaction, in the compli- 
ments which Maelzel had paid to the Bostonian amateurs at their 
expense. A certain Grceco — as he misspelled the name — came out in 
the New York American with a challenge to the Automaton chess- 
player, in the midst of his victories over the Bostonians in full games, 
to play against him, as the representative of New York chess, '' for 
love or money." Maelzel, being now in New York, answered this 
challenge, on the 7th of November, by saying, that he was authorized 
by a number of the gentlemen of Boston, whose chess reputation had 
been thus indirectly aimed at, to accept G-reco's challenge, provided the 
stakes played for should not be less than one thousand dollars, and from 
that to five, at his option. The thing appears to have been quietly 
settled by the two strongest of the New York players caUing on 
Maelzel, and contesting a few games in private with the new Director. 
The result was made known by a second card of Greco's, in the Ameri- 
can of the 11th, wherein he states, "that since his former communica- 
tion both of the American chess-players, on whose skill he had relied 
so arrogantly, had been beaten with ease by a foreigner, and that he 
must therefore ' back out ' from his challenge, as better men had done 
before him, and subscribe to the Automaton's superiority without a 
trial." 

Maelzel had said, in his card of the 7th of November, that he was to 
remain in New York only three days before going to Philadelphia by 
appointment. I have no doubt that he did come on hither immedi- 
ately, although his solemn " arrival " is announced in the Philadelphia 
newspapers under date of December 22d ; for his preliminary arrange- 
ments at Boston had consumed a month, and those which he made 
here were such as to require a still longer time, and constant personal 
attention on his part. Whether Philadelphia was, from the first, his 
city of predilection I cannot say : it certainly came to be so ; and the 
steps which he took at the outset would appear to have proceeded from 
some feeling of the kind. He rented — for a term of years, as I under- 
stand — an old building, long since burnt down, in Fifth street, below 
Walnut, adjoining • the lot on which the African church now stands. 
The second story had already been used as a dancing-hall by a M. 
Labbe. This Maelzel fitted up, at very considerable expense, as an 
exhibition-room, with a new broad stairway, and private rooms for 
himself, where he could look after his Automaton, and enjoy his chess- 
dinners with Schlumberger, in a most delightful state of bachelor inde- 



/[/[/] Incidents in the History of 

pendence. He retained the control of this building for so many years, 
and occupied it so large a part of the time in person — merely letting 
the lower story — that it came to be regularly known as " Maelzel's 
Hall." 

In no city, moreover, does Maelzel appear to have formed such inti- 
mate and lasting connexions with native or foreign residents as here. 
He had known the elder Mr. Willig, then our most extensive music- 
seller, in Europe. With him he was on terms of close personal inti- 
macy, and to him he entrusted the secrets even of his bank book. Mr. 
John F. Ohl was resorted to in many matters of business from the 
beginning ; and we shall find his name associated with Maelzel's down 
to the latest transactions which I have to record. From an early 
period, Maelzel rented of Mr. Ohl some kind of store-room, where he 
had an odd fancy of depositing broken stools and benches, or other 
trumpery, which he knew to be useless, but which he had it not in his 
heart either to part with or destroy.* His acquaintance with native 
residents lay directly among such men of science and ingenuity as took 
an interest in the inventions which he had perfected, or could help him 
in those which he was continually meditating. He was constantly 
keeping at work artists and artisans of every description, one upon one 
detached part, another upon another, of some complicated mechanism ; 
while no one but himself knew the relation of the parts to each other, 
and to the whole. From one of these ingenious men, my friend Mr. 
Joseph J. Mickley — then a young pianoforte manufacturer, now better 
known for his union of personal amiability and integrity with curious 
knowledge — I have learned more of what I know of Maelzel and 
Schlumberger, in their private character and relations, than from all 
other sources. 

Their acquaintance began by Maelzel's sending for Mr. Mickley, 
when the Hall was nearly finished, and when the final noisy prepara- 
tions for the first exhibition were doing their last and worst — late, 
therefore, in December — to make some slight repairs in the upright 

* So it was told me ; 'but I am pretty sure that this old store-room played 
a more important part in Maelzel's arrangements. When he was in Europe 
he needed a safe deposit for his Chess-player ; and Mr. Ohl's store-room, and 
the neighborhood of the friendly Mr. Willig, were precisely what was 
wanted for his purpose. On his distant tours into the interior he never took 
the whole of his Exhibition with him : a part was left behind and stored in 
this same room. 



American Chess. 445 

piano on which Maelzel used to play — and 'finely, too — to accompany 
his Trumpeter, or guide the motions of his Dancers. My amiable 
friend, who had the advantage, as a native of the Moravian settlement 
at Bethlehem, of speaking German readily, appears to have made an 
immediace and agreeable impression upon Maelzel. He was, at once 
and for ever, made free of the exhibition ; he was a frequent and wel- 
come visitor at Maelzel' s Hall ; and his shop was a favorite resort of the 
great inventor. On one of his earliest visits to the Hall, he found the 
stout, grey-headed exhibitor, not as usual, quiet, bland, and urbane, but 
busily training some one behind the curtain in the proper manipula- 
tion of the dancing figures. He was himself ordering, fretting, fault- 
finding, scolding in most emphatic French, while the unseen pupil was 
mildly and good-humoredly interposing pleasant deprecations. Maelzel 
interrupted his grumbling to apologize to Mr. Mickley for his awkward 
disciple, by saying, in good-natured German, '' He is a novice : he has 
only been a little while with me." The tall, stooping young man left 
his puppets and passed out. Soon afterwards Maelzel took occasion 
to introduce the young man to Mr. Mickley as " Monsieur Schlum- 
berger." 

Schlumberger was, therefore, not the " Director " of the Automaton 
alone, but also Maelzel's ^^ Assistant" in his exhibitions. He acted, 
moreover, as a kind of confidential secretary and clerk ; at one time 
writing his letters, at another time going round to the different mecha- 
nics, who were kept busy as I have described. Maelzel appears not 
only to have valued his services very highly, but also to have delighted 
in his society, and to have become attached to him personally. He was 
fond of having him with him when he walked out to Mr. Mickley's 
factory, or other favorite resort, and was delighted to see him engaged 
in conversation with others. If Schlumberger told a pleasant story, or 
said anything approaching to a good thing, Maelzel was the first to give 
his smile or laugh of approbation. At the Hall they were sure to be 
found together at the chequered board. Maelzel was passionately 
devoted to Chess ; and if he was really ^' an inferior player" (as Mr. 
Walker has called him), his inferiority was shown — where Chess-genius 
shines most — in the combinations of the middle of the game ; in end- 
games Schlumberger declared him to be superior to himself Besides 
such occupations in direct connexion with Maelzel, and his visits to the 
house of Mr. Yezin and some other amateurs in his capacity of Chess- 
Professor, I cannot learn that Schlumberger formed any sort of inti- 
macy or acquaintance with any of our residents of whatever nation or 



44^ Incidents in the History of 

class. Perhaps he had the feehng, natural to men of inferior energy, 
that, once thrown out of his hopes for life by misfortune, any attempt 
to recover his position was idle, and that nothing was left to him but 
to live on by such means as chance had thrown in his way, without 
asking or looking for anything from his fellows. It is creditable to him, 
if such were the case, that he abandoned himself, in his despondency, 
to no habits inconsistent with the respectability of his former position. 

Maelzefs first exhibition-season in Philadelphia extended from the 
26th of December, 1826, to the 20th of March, 1827. The Hall was 
open twice a day — at noon and in the evening — and full games as well 
as end-games were played, but whether indifferently at either hour I 
do not know. The Automaton lost one end-game — the famous Three 
Pawn position — to Mr. Daniel Smith; and one full game to a lady, 
Mrs. Fisher.* The latter game happens to be the only specimen of 
poor Schlumberger's jplay — I will not say shill — that has been preserved. 
It was printed at the time in the Philadelphia Gazette^ and was after- 
wards reported in Mr. Stanley's American Chess Magazine (p. 57). It 
was played at two different sittings, on the 30th and 31st days of Janu- 
ary. Maelzel's demotion to the fair sex was quite too profound to allow 
his Automaton to insist upon his prerogative to take the first move ; 
nay, Schlumberger is said to have had peremptory orders to get beaten. 
After the lady's 39th move, "Mr. Maelzel (says the newspaper), at 
this stage of the game, considering it lost, politely thanked Mrs. F., 
and observed that he was fairly beaten. . . . He also remarked that 
the Automaton had been conquered but three times — once in Paris, 
once in Boston, and by Mrs. F. of Philadelphia."t 

Maelzel's success would have warranted his remaining as much 
longer as he liked in Philadelphia ; but he was wisely anxious to reap 

* There is a tradition (not perfectly authenticated) that the late Mr. Yezin 
won a game of the Automaton. I have also been informed that the Phila- 
delphia Chess Club, consulting, under the presidency of Mr. Yezin, played 
with the Automaton at a private exhibition, and lost. 

f Maelzel did not, I suppose, consider himself bound to speak as upon oath, 
while uttering this speech in honor of the Philadelphia lady. He had already 
told Coleman in New York, that his Automaton had been beaten five times in 
Europe. In a clever article in the Quarterly Eeview for June, 1849, — which 
I could guess to be Mr. Tomlinson's — the Automaton is said to have lost six 
games in three hundred ; but this must be allowed to have been an astonish- 
ingly small proportion, when it is recollected that in those three hundred 
games, Mr. Lewis gave the Pawn and move to all comers. 



American Chess. 447 

the fruits of that expectant curiosity which had been excited elsewhere. 
Closing, therefore, his exhibition on the 20th of March, he proceeded 
to Baltimore, and on Monday evening, the 30th of April, opened a 
season, which lasted — ^with an interval fron\ the 2d of June to the 8th 
of October — until the 16th of November (1827). He found a suitable 
Hall in the Fountain Inn, Light street, which he fitted up with arrange- 
ments for living there by himself, precisely as he had done in Philadel- 
phia. Schlumberger was sent, or went, to take lodgings in some 
second-rate inn, but spent a great deal of his time in playing with 
Maelzel, or with gentlemen of the city. I believe it is not to be under- 
stood that he played only with those who engaged him as a teacher. 
Maelzel was glad that he should play as much as possible with the first- 
rate amateurs of every city which he visited ; partly, no doubt, from 
kindness to Schlumberger, who must have missed his daily enjoyment 
of the Cafe de la Rtgence ; partly to keep him in good practice ; and 
partly, by finding out who were the strong players, to prevent any 
surprise at his exhibitions. Among the places which Schlumberger 
most frequented for this purpose, was the office of a young physician, 
who, besides being a clever amateur, was deeply interested in the 
mysterious mechanism of the Automaton, as a scientific inquirer. 
Actuated by such curiosity, he had already visited New York the year 
before, and had then not only played with the Automaton, but had also 
formed an agreeable acquaintance with Maelzel himself He was now, 
therefore, much in MaelzeFs society ; he was, by standing invitation, a 
frequent visitor at his exhibitions ; and he was one of those with whom 
Maelzel was glad to have Schlumberger play. From the correspondence 
and conversation of this distinguished Baltimorean — Dr. Joshua I. 
Cohen — I have learned several interesting particulars in reference to 
all three of my heroes ; and these I record with unusual satisfaction, 
because I have found my courteous and obliging informant to have 
been, from his scientific habits, an acute observer, and to be singularly 
accurate in the recollection of his observations.* 

Although Schlumberger found some strong players in Baltimore— 
among whom Mr. Amelung then ranked as the first — there were none 
to whom he could not have given odds. Dr. Cohen usually received 
from him the Knight, and with these odds could make a pretty good 

* I owe my first valuable communication from Dr. Cohen to the attention 
of Mr. H. Spilman, editor of a remarkably well-conducted Chess-column in 
the Baltimore Dispatch. 



448 Incidents in the History of 

stand against him. Schlumberger would, however, now and then lose 
an even game to some of the Baltimore amateurs ; and Dr. Cohen 
mentions one incident of the kind, which is quite to the purpose to 
show, that a first-rate player cannot always do justice to himself unless 
the adversary be one that calls for the full exertion of his powers. 
One day when he was playing in his office with Schlumberger, a friend 
came in, to whom he offered his place at the board, and a chance to 
try his skill against the " soul of the Automaton." The new comer 
asked for no odds, and yet — after a hard contest — won the game. 
Schlumberger immediately said, "I cannot play even with you — I 
must give you a piece :" — he gave him the Knight, accordingly, and 
beat him with ease. He had, probably, at the outset, perceived the 
inferiority of his antagonist, and could not arouse himself from that 
" sheer indifference," to which Mr. Staunton somewhere pleads guilty, 
under like circumstances, until he had got into a position where no efforts 
could save the game. I infer from what Dr. Cohen says, that in this 
case of giving odds, as well as in games played at the exhibitions 
against ordinary antagonists, the director made sure work by convert- 
ing the opening into a gambit : — to most of our players — in their igno- 
rance of the proper defence — the gift of the Pawn was indeed (in Mr. 
Walker's phrase) a " Greek gift." 

In the public exhibitions, full games were not often played, because 
not often called for ; but on these rare occasions Schlumberger never 
allowed himself to be beaten. When the Automaton adhered to its 
claim of the first move, the game was made a gambit ; when the adver- 
sary had the move, Schlumberger invariably resorted to Mouret's 
favorite defence of King's Pawn one — a Boeotian defence, thoroughly 
understood at the Cafe de la Regence — so often played afterwards by 
La Bourdonnais, so thoroughly detested by McDonnell. In playing 
end-games, Schlumberger did not come off quite so well : — he was 
sometimes beaten, although very seldom. One of these defeats was 
suffered at the hands of the same young physician, to whom, in pri- 
vate play, he regularly gave the Knight. Dr. Cohen has given me a 
very agreeable account of the circumstances. Although a constant 
visitor of the exhibition, he had never taken any part in the play ; but 
on one occasion, with the room full of company, no one answered 
Maelzel's invitation to try the Automaton in a game. Dr. Cohen was, 
therefore, induced by Maelzel's request, seconded by that of his friends, 
to come forward to the little table. The diagram was shown him, and 
he was asked ivlnch side he icould take ? The problem was the eighth 



American Chess. 449 

of the little green book — -the one hundred and thirty-first of your 
Oriental Chess, from which I suppose it was copied. Dr. Cohen did 
not pretend to analyse the position upon such a mere moment's no- 
tice ; but, seeing a Queen, Rook, Knight, Bishop, and five Pawns on 
one side, and two Rooks, one Knight, one Bishop, and four Pawns, 
without a Queen, on the other, he ingeniously guessed, that what was 
meant to appear the weakest side was really the strongest, and there- 
fore chose the queenless White. Playing merely to oblige Maelzel, 
and expecting to be speedily checkmated by his powerful adversary 
as of course, he took no great pains ; but perceiving as the game ad- 
vanced, that his own position appeared to be really by far the stronger 
of the two, and encouraged by the great interest manifested by 
the company, he began to take all possible pains with his moves ; 
and, at the end of an hour, nothing was left for him but to give the 
coup de grace and say Checkmate! Maelzel was too cunning to suffer 
this word of triumph to be pronounced in pubHc, if he could avoid it. 
He therefore blandly requested Dr. Cohen — as if merely to show off 
one of the curious powers of the Automaton — to make a false move. 
The Doctor readily complied ; the Turk shook his head, thumped an- 
grily on the lid of the chest, replaced the offending piece, and made 
his own move, amidst the plaudits of the spectators.* The keen Chess- 

* I may as well note here as elsewhere, that in the matter of " false moves"' 
the Automaton was as great a stickler for law, and nothing but law, as any 
Chess-codifier of the present day could be ; but — like Aristophanes's old man, 
that had a memory only for such debts as were due to and not hy him— he 
could take the law into his own hands upon occasion. In Boston — during 
Ins first visit, I believe — when the Automaton had made his move, Maelzel 
coolly took up the piece and put it back in its place again. The Automaton 
immediately repeated the move, and Maelzel again annulled it. But when the 
Turk made the same move a third time, it was with an emphasis that thoroughly 
awed the Proprietor, and he went off and repeated it on the adversary's 
board without further resistance. Mr. Dexter afterwards asked Maelzel what 
the thing meant. Maelzel told him, that he thought the Automaton was 
making the wrong move, but Schlumberger had convinced him tliat it was 
the coup juste. Much the same thing once happened here. My vene- 
rable friend, Mr. Yalue, Professor of French, was once playing with the Auto- 
maton — an end-game, I suppose— when Maelzel took the same liberty of re- 
caUing the Turk's move, both a first and a second time. The third time, the 
Automaton made a different move, and Mr. Yalue's game went to pieces 
immediately. 



450 Incidents in the History of 

players, who had followed the moves with such interest, did indeed cry 
out — " But how about the game ?" — a question quite too impertinent, 
of course, when put by so paltry a minority, to receive any sort of 
attention. Dr. Cohen himself was so good-natured as really to be 
sorry for his victory. He knew that Maelzel was always angry with 
Schlumberger for losing a game, and that whenever this happened — as 
might now have been the case — in consequence of an innocent cup too 
much, he used to swear horribly at his meek and penitent director in 
the terrible German, which he reserved for such occasions.* The 
Doctor was still more annoyed when he saw in the next morning's 
paper a regular bulletin of his victory, and began to foresee, that the 
reputation for Chess skill, which he was thus acquiring, might be a 
burden too heavy for him to sustain.f He therefore called upon 
Maelzel immediately, to express his regret at the unauthorized publica- 
tion. Maelzel complained that the game had been ill-played by the 
Automaton, and was desirous that the victor — who was showing him- 
self so courteous and generous — should try the same position again, 
at the next exhibition.]: But as Dr. Cohen was far from coveting any 

* Lest this should be understood to poor Schlumberger's disadvantage, I 
think it right to say, that he not only was no drunkard, but that he was 
rarely intemperate, and even then, I think, chiefly from not being aware, 
while absorbed in a game of Chess, how much wine he was drinking. He 
drank only wine or ale ; and the conductor of the exhibition, during Maelzel's 
absence in Europe, assures me that Schlumberger was as rigidly temperate 
as he was faithfully attentive to his business. I suspect, therefore, as I have 
hinted before, that the occasional lapses, of which I know Maelzel sometimes 
complained, were nearly all the consequence of such Chess-dinners as I have 
described, which came too late in the day to allow Schlumberger's head to 
get properly settled before he was obliged to enter the box. 

f As I record Dr. Cohen's apprehemion I am reminded of the realized 
sufferings of poor Jouy. He had the honor of being beaten in one of La 
Bourdonnais's blindfold games, and of being named therefore in the poet 
Mery's Soiree dCErmites. Henceforth none of Jouy's ordinary antagonists — 
parlor Chess-players — would play with so formidable a celebrity. In his 
despair, he abused Mery roundly for having clothed him in such a lion's skin, 
and was heartily grateful to the first man that did him the favor, by a series 
of beatings, of letting people see (as he said), the ass's ear peeping out from 
underneath. {Le Palamede-St. Amant, t. vi. p. 426.) 

\ Dr. Cohen had been allowed (perhaps as an inducement to him to play), 
not only to choose his side, but also to take the first move. Now, under these 



American Chess. 451 

such notoriety, and had played solely to oblige Maelzel, he felt per- 
fectly at liberty to decline a repetition of the contest. 

Maelzel's Baltimore campaign was marked by an event of far greater 
importance than defeat in one end-game or two — I mean the discovery 
and publication of his secret. The affair happened in this wise : — two 
youths, who had in vain exhausted every means of discovering the 
secret of the mechanism, by such observation and inspection as the 
exhibition afforded, took it into their heads to approach their object in 
another direction. That part of Maelzel's exhibition-room, from which 
the Chess-player, the Trumpeter, and the Dancers were successively 
brought before the curtain, was furnished with windows, which could 
be looked into from the roof of a shed near by. Upon this roof the 
boys mounted, during the first hour of the exhibition, ready to see 
whatever should offer itseff to be seen. When the hour was over, 
Maelzel rolled back the Chess-player behind the curtain. It was during 
the last week in May, and the heat in that Southern city was exces- 
sive ; to Schlumberger in his box it must have been well-nigh intole- 
rable. Intent only upon reheving his ally, Maelzel stepped to the 
window, threw the shutters wide open, and then, going back to the 
Automaton, he removed the top, as one turns round the leaf of a card- 
table.* From the mysterious crypt within there immediately emerged, 
in full sight of the boys, the very unpoetical figure of a tall man in his 
shirt-sleeves, whom there was no difficulty in recognising as Schlum- 
berger himself. The discovery was as alarming as it was surprising 
to the young fellows. To be the depositaries of a secret, which, in 

circumstances, he could — according to the book — have won by force in seven 
moves. And yet Maelzel may have been both sincere and correct in saying 
that the Automaton — even under these disadvantages — would have won but 
for bad play, for Dr. Cohen, in his first careless moves, had probably given 
Schlumberger a chance to retrieve his desperate game, if he had not been 
himself as careless, for the moment, as his antagonist. 

* Such was the impression of the young men, bnt they were certainly 
mistaken. The top of the chest was not in any way fastened to it, but 
was always lifted off. It was not only detached from the chest, but was 
also made to fit very loosely to it — that is, a space was left between the 
side of the chest and that part of the lid — a concave moulding — which shut 
over it, as may be clearly seen in Yon Kempelen's drawings. This shutting 
over and loose fitting of the lid, along with certain notches cut in the upper 
edge of the chest, constituted one of the means for keeping up a constant 
supply of fresh air for the player. 



45^ Incidents in the History of 

their minds, exceeded in importance all secrets the world had known, 
since the days of the Eleusinian Mysteries, was a burthen under which 
their strength gave way, as did that of Caleb Williams, when he had 
become an involuntary witness to the crime of his master. One of 
them ^' rolled the stone off his breast" (as the Grermans would say) 
by telUng everything to his father. The story began to spread ; and in 
a few days — on Friday, the first of June — an article, with the attractive 
head The Chess-player Discovered^ appeared in the Baltimore Gazette. 
When the statement of this discovery was first made to Maelzel, he 
treated it with huge disdain. He said he was used to such pretended 
discoveries, and that he was not to be frightened into paying hush- 
money ; but his friend, the younger Mr. Willig, and others, who knew 
the character and standing of the youthful witnesses, warned him that 
he must not treat the affair so lightly, but that he must take some steps 
to prevent a beHef in the discovery from taking root. Maelzel began, 
thereupon, to consider the propriety of resorting to the tactics of his 
New York campaign : he thought of entrusting his secret to Mr. Wil- 
lig, and of requesting him to act as Director, pro tempore^ at one or 
more exhibitions, while Schlumberger, no longer in his shirt-sleeves, 
should enact the part of " adversary" at the little table. But Maelzel 
was saved by his unerring tact, and by his lucky stars together, from 
finally resorting to this expedient. He must have had the sagacity to 
discover, very soon, that nobody credited the pretended discovery. The i 
world had set its heart upon believing that the secret, which had puz- 
zled mechanicians, mathematicians, and monarchs, for more than half a 
century, was something quite too deep to be penetrated by a couple of 
boys. The National Intelligencer^ of Washington, the very highest news- 
paper authority in America, sagaciously treated the Gazette article as 
having emanated from Maelzel himself — '' the tale of a discovery was but 
a clever device of the proprietor to keep alive the interest of the com- i 
munity in his exhibition." The smaller fry of editors, after being put 
on their guard by the '' Newspapers' Mother,"* were far too cautious 
to make fools of themselves by repeating the shallow story ; and thus , 

* When the Young Chevalier^s Highlanders were marching out of Edin- 1 
burgh for the battle-field of Prestonpans, they dragged along with them, ! 
by hand, a heavy gun, which they had captured in the town. They could ^ 
not be convinced that a gun without shot was of no use. The cannon, they ; 
said, was the muskefs mother; and they seemed to calculate on the better j 
behavior of their own small arras, under the awful eye of the big maternal 
field-piece. 



American Chess. 453 

it was that a revelation, which might have been expected to spread 
over all the country like wild-fire, did nothing but raise a slight smoke 
in one city, and even there, as if* fairly ashamed of itself, it soon 
vanished into air. It was, moreover, lucky that the month of June 
had come, and that, further exhibitions of any kind being out of the 
question, Maelzel could discontinue his, without appearing to do any- 
thing at all out of the way. Nor did his good fortune end here. His 
success in America had induced him to send to Paris for other pieces 
of mechanism, by which he had been wont to diversify his exhibitions 
in Europe. The most remarkable of these was his truly magnificent 
panoramic view of the Conflagration of Moscow^ which contrived to 
reach our shores just at the moment when its inventor and proprietor 
must have thought anything a god-send, that could divert the thoughts 
of the public from the Automaton and its secret. Accordingly, on 
the 5th of June, he was enabled to thank the people of Baltimore 
for their kind patronage, and to inform them that the Conflagration 
of Moscoio^ which had elicited so much admiration in Amsterdam, Paris, 
and London, would be exhibited in a short time, in addition (for it 
would never do to '• back out') to the Chess-play er^ etc. The short time 
was four months. On Monday, the 8th of October, the first of the 
renewed exhibitions was given, and the proceeds were wisely and 
benevolently devoted to a pubhc charity. While the pubhc attention 
was absorbed by the brilliant spectacle, the Automaton gracefully 
effected its retreat, merely throwing out as a rear-guard the following 
note at the foot of the larger advertisement : '' The Automaton Chess- 
player will be exhibited only to private parties, on appHcation to Mr. 
Maelzel." 

By this prudent withdrawal of the Chess-player, poor Schlumber- 
ger*s ^' occupation was gone," except so far as he was obliged to put in 
practice Maelzel's hard lessons in puppet-dancing — a piece of manual 
skill wherein one might doubt if he ever gave absolute satisfaction ; for 
it was in reference to this, that he rather explained than complained to a 
friend, that " the old gentleman was very difficult to please." But I be- 
lieve it was not so. I am told, that his disposition to do his duty well, 
along with his superior intelligence, made him really perfectly aufait in 
the management of the Funarribulists^ and now of the Conflagration of 
Moscow^ in all its ever-varying movements. In fact, he came at length 
to be quite as indispensable to Maelzel in his secondary character of 
*' Assistant" as in that of "Director." And while doing this justice to 
Schlumberger's fidehty and acquired skill as an Assistant, I am tempted 



454 Incidents in the History of 

to add a fuller statement of what I merely alluded to before — the evi- 
dence, namely, which he gave of some literary taste and historical 
knowledge, during the perusal of Scott's Life of Kapoleon. One of 
the clever Baltimore amateurs, with whom Schlumberger volunteered 
to play occasionally, was a young professional gentleman of high position. 
Discovering in the unpretending Director's conversation the evidences 
of good education and cultivated taste, the amiable Baltimorean, in a 
spirit of refined courtesy, presented him with an elegant copy of the 
famous biography, which had then just issued from the press, and was 
absorbing the attention of all readers (as I well remember), not less than 
Ivanlioe or Old Mortality had done a few years before. The attention was 
gratefully received ; and the merits and demerits of the history, as the 
perusal advanced, were the subject of animated discussion at successive 
meetings over the Chess-board. But Schlumberger, with all the marks 
of his G-erman race, was a Frenchman — as truly a Frenchman as were 
his brother- Alsatians, Eapp, Lefebvre, or !N"ey ; and if there be any one 
book in the world, which all Frenchmen have agreed, with one accord, to 
be angry with and abuse more than any other, it is the imperfect and 
unequal attempt of the great novelist to delineate the career and charac- 
ter of their idolized Emperor. The wrath of Schlumberger would appear 
at last to have come into an odd kind of conflict with his real politeness 
and good nature. At the moment of leaving Baltimore — on the 2d 
day of December, 1827 — he addressed to ther gentleman in question a 
very elegantly-worded letter, wherein he thanked him warmly for his 
many kind attentions, and then maliciously begged his acceptance, in 
turn, of a book, which he had carefully selected as likely to jar as much 
with his ^meWcari friend's opinions, as Walter Scott's '^libellous biogra- 
phy" had with his^ as a Frenchman. The joke will not, I hope, too 
much damage my hero's character for good breeding, when due allow- 
ance is made for that excessive French sensibility on this one point, 
which the polite donor had not calculated upon. Nay, I hope this 
anecdote may help to remove an unfounded impression, which I have 
found quite current in Philadelphia, namely, that Schlumberger was but 
a ^' kind of living Chess-board," with neither mind for, nor interest in, 
any subject but one. It is probable, that few of those who played with 
him spoke enough of any other subject than Chess, to discover what he 
knew besides, or some of them might, perhaps, have found him, to their 
surprise, a man of better education than themselves. 

In a pleasant conversation with his friend, Mr. Willig, the younger — 
but whether during this, or a later, visit to Baltimore, I do not know — 



American Chess. 455 

Maelzel once said, " You Americans are a very singular people. I went 
with my Automaton all over my own country — the Germans wondered 
and said nothing. In France, they exclaimed, Magnifique ! Merveilleux ! 
Superbe I The English set themselves to prove — one that it could be, 
and another that it could not be, a mere mechanism acting without a 
man inside. But I had not been long in your country, before a Yankee 
came to see me, and said, ^ Mr. Maelzel, would you like another thing 
like that ? I can make you one for five hundred dollars.' I laughed 
at his proposition. A few months afterwards, the same Yankee came 
to see me again, and this time he said, ' Mr. Maelzel, would you like 
to buy another thing like that ? I have one ready made for you.' " 
This was Maelzel's account of a matter, which — like the discovery of 
the secret — gave him some trouble, and ought (one would think) to 
have destroyed the attraction of his Chess-player. But again his star 
prevailed. 

I have only an imperfect knowledge of this cross-current in the stream 
of my history, but I give what I have been able to learn.* An inge- 
nious ^' Yankee" — so they call him, but I do not know whether I ought 
to admit him to share with me that title— had begun to construct an 
automaton chess-player before Maelzel's visit to this country. From 
what is said of it, I infer that it was made after the conjectural draw- 
ings given in WilUs's clever book.t The maker — Mr. Walker — did not 

* What follows is copied substantially from Mr. Fiske's minute of a con- 
versation with Mr. Walker, the constructor of the "American Chess-player." 

f I call the book clever, but, after all, its merit has been much overrated, 
Willis did indeed guess pretty well the manner in which the player might be 
concealed, while the successive opening of the doors was going on ; but his 
solution of the more difficult problem, how the player knew the adversary's 
moves, and made his own, was as erroneous and as clumsy as possible. A 
far more remarkable book was that of the Freyherr zu Racknitz (equivalent, 
I understand, to Baron Racknitz), entitled Ueher den Schachspieler des Herrn 
von Kempelen und dessen Naclibildung, Leipzig und Dresden^ 1789. (With 
seven Plates.) Having been written in German, nobody read or understood 
it — except (as Hegel complained) one, and he m^5understood it, and called 
its author Mr. Freyhere, Racknitz did not guess the mode of hiding the 
player so well as Willis; but he did guess — and did actually copy in an 
automaton of his own — Kempelen's application of Magnetism to his purposes. 
The magnetized men, the silk threads and little iron balls, the separate board 
within, the pentagraph — all these are found in Racknitz's automaton so nearly 
the same as in Kempelen's, that one mig*ht reasonably suspect some treachery 
on the part of one of Kempelen's Directors, 



45^ Incidents in the History of 

finish it, and begin to exhibit it, until after Maelzel had gone to Balti- 
more. The first exhibition was in May (I think) 1827, at New York, 
at the corner of Reade street and Broadway. The newspapers pro- 
nounced it to be, every way, as good as Maelzel's Turk, except that it 
was by no means so strong a player. As soon as Maelzel became 
aware that this rival Automaton was in the field, he wrote to his friend 
Coleman, to inquire about it; and Coleman was " di& comfortable 
cousin" enough to answer, that Walker's was decidedly the better 
Automaton of the two. Thereupon Maelzel hurried on to New York — 
in the interval (as I conjecture) between the closing and the renewal of 
his season in Baltimore — and forthwith went with Coleman to witness 
the performance of the " American Chess-Play er." When the exhibition 
was over, he was introduced by Coleman to the two brothers Walker, 
and said to them, in what they characterize as his " sly way" (put on, 
perhaps because he was talking to Yankees), ''Your Automaton is 
very good, but then you know it is very different from mine. There 
is no use of our having two automatons in the field. I will give you a 
thousand dollars for your machine, just to tear it up ; and you shall 
become my cashiers." The brothers declined the offer, and proceeded 
to exhibit their Chess-player at Saratoga, Ballston, and other places. 
Maelzel returned to Baltimore, and in due time re-opened his exhibition, 
just as coolly, to all appearance, as if his secret had not been completely 
exposed, and as if his Automaton had not ceased to be a unique won- 
der, within the space of a few weeks. My opinion is, that Maelzel 
had seen too much, during his visit to New-York, and had reflected too 
much on the deep-rooted prejudice of the American people in favor 
of his Automaton, to be seriously disturbed by the prospect of what 
the brothers Walker could do to interfere with his success. It was 
not any Automaton, that the people were bent on finding supremely 
wonderful, but the Automaton — the unique, historical invention of Yon 
Kempelen. It was fatal, again, to the Walker Chess-player, that any- 
body could beat it. And finally, what were the American brothers 
Walker — ingenious men, to be sure, but " prophets in their own coun- 
try " — in comparison with the most celebrated mechanician of the age, 
the inventor of the Metronome and of the PanharmonicoUj whose 
name had been repeated in every scientific journal, from the Magazin 
Encyclopedique to the Edinburgh Journal of Science ; and what was 
their naked exhibition of a Chess-player, copied from other men's 
drawings, to such a display of mechanical genius as one evening in 
Maelzel's Hall presented, when the original Chess-player was seen in ' 



American Chess. 457 

connexion with the Mtnambulists^ and with Moscow^ with the Speaking 
Figures and the Trumpeter ^ all introduced to the admiration of the 
spectators by the inventor himself, with a tact which proved him to be 
the absolute perfection of an exhibitor ? A year in America must have 
satisfied so shrewd an observer as Maelzel, that he occupied a vantage- 
ground, from which no efforts of rival exhibitors, nor even the ordinary 
accidents of fortune, could easily drive him. He took full time, there- 
fore, for his Baltimore season ; and it was not until after the beginning 
of December, that he retraced his steps leisurely to Philadelphia and 
New York. 

Although Maelzel left Baltimore early in December — for Schlum- 
berger wrote the above mentioned note of the 2d, on the eve of his 
departure — he appears to have been in no remarkable hurry to exhibit 
again. He does not advertise in Philadelphia until the 5th of January, 
1828, and then he speaks of himself as on his way to New York ; but, 
mindful of former kindness experienced here, he proposes to open his Hall 
for a short exhibition season. The season lasted, in fact, until the first 
of March. No mention whatever is made, in his advertisements, of the 
Automaton Chess-player. I suppose, therefore, that he was now 
lodged in the old store-room on the premises of Mr. Ohl. This tem- 
porary relegation may have been the consequence solely of the disco- 
very at Baltimore, or it may have had some connexion with an exhibi- 
tion of the Walker Automaton, which I find advertised in our papers 
of the 11th of December. Some kind of negotiation or scheme appears, 
at any rate, to have been occupying the mind of Maelzel, for on the 
3d of March he advertises, that he suspends his exhibition here in 
order to make arrangements in New- York for an exhibition there. To 
New York he went, undoubtedly, but — from some unknown cause — 
he did not exhibit there during this year. His short visit, it is hkely, 
had some other object in view. On his return, he resumed his exhibi- 
tion here — again without the Chess-player — and continued it from the 
12th of March to the 19th of April. 

We next find Maelzel once more in Boston, where he opened a 
season, which might appear to have extended (with some short inter- 
ruptions) from the 4th of June to the 3d of October. But this appear- 
ance covers a curious transaction, the nature of which I have learned 
only at the latest and quite unexpectedly. After about three weeks 
of exhibition, Maelzel informed the public, that he must close his Hall 
for a few days, during a journey which he was obliged to make to New 
York. It is impossible to conjecture precisely what had been going 

20 



45^ Incidents in the History of 

on in that city for some months to be fidgeting poor Maelzel at this 
rate, and calHng him away, first fi:'om Philadelphia, and then from Bos- 
ton. The Leuchtenberg afifair was long before this time done with, 
and he never troubled himself about the Walker Automaton after his 
first offer.* The only other transaction, that I know anything of, is a 
negotiation of much the same kind with another ingenious Yankee, 
Mr. Balcom, who had made, or proposed to make, still another Automa- 
ton Chess-player. I think it very likely, that Maelzel bought Mr. Bal- 
com oflf; but whether — as stated in the Chess Monthly — there ever 
really was a finished Automaton in the case, purchased for five thou- 
sand dollars, and '' ruthlessly consigned to the flames," may perhaps 
require some confirmation. It is certain, however, that in some way 
he took Mr. Balcom's genius into pay ; for on the 6th of September he 
publicly announced the reception of a new Android, the American 
Whist-player. Kow this Whist-player was made by Mr. Balcom for 
Maelzel ; and the probability is, that what was originally begun by the 
troublesome Yankee as a Chess-Play er was never finished as such, but 
was turned into this less objectionable shape ''for a consideration," and 
so the '' opposition " ended. Whether any actual use was made of this 
new Android I am not informed. I have been told, however, that the 
nearest Schlumberger was ever known to come to an involuntary 
revelation of the secret, whereof he was the depositary, was in pro- 
testing to a friend against the substitution of an Automaton Whist- 
player for the Automaton Chess-player, ''For//' says he, very ear- 
nestly, " do not like Whist, but I do like Chess." 

In connexion with this buying off opposition by buying in new 
automata, Maelzel appears to have formed a plan for selling the greater 
part of his exhibition — always excepting his beloved Trumpeter and 
the Chess-player — while its attractions were at the highest. On the 
15th of July he advertised his wiUingness to dispose of " Moscow " to 

* A- little too fast. On the 9th day of May, and to appearance, while on 
his way from Philadelphia to Boston, Maelzel cautioned the public, through 
the New York Evening Post, against the "American Automaton Chess- 
player," then exhibiting at the Museum. The thing, he assured them, "was 
not the Automaton, exhibited by him in New York, two years before, nor 
had it any real pretentions to the skill and power of that celebrated Chess- 
player." It must have been subsequent to this manifesto, I suppose — but I 
do not know when or for how long a time — that one of the Walkers really 
travelled with Maelzel as his Cashier, but with no reference to any purchase 
of the "American Chess-player." 






American Chess. 459 

any individual or company on reasonable terms. The sale was actually 
made, on the 22d of August, to a company of three Bostonians, for the 
sum of six thousand dollars. It was in the terms of the bargain that 
Maelzel should recommend to the company a competent exhibitor,* 
and should allow the exhibition to be advertised as his. He himself 
took in pieces the Automaton Chess-player and the Trumpeter, and 
packed them off, I have reason to believe, for Philadelphia, to pass the 
long winter, silently and obscurely, in Mr. Ohl's storehouse, in the dull 
society of the other trumpery lodged there, while their happier pro- 
prietor should be making merry in his old haunts at Paris ; for Mael- 
zel had no sooner pocketed his money than he was off for Europe.f 
But the exhibition of everything except the two retiring automata — 
of the "Burning of Moscow," the "Speaking Figures," and the "Fu- 
nambulists," together with an " Automaton Violoncellist " (never heard 
of before or afterwards) — was carried on in Julien Hall under the name 
of Maelzel, and with the indispensable assistance of our hero Schlum- 
berger. From Boston the exhibition started upon a long expedition, 
which I am not interested to follow, inasmuch as it had no other con- 
nexion with the history of the Automaton than the presence of its 
" Director " (with his more glorious title suffering sad eclipse under 
that of "Assistant"), and left no other trace of its success thaia the 
confusion of dates and facts, which it naturally gave rise to, by bear- 
ing the name of Maelzel. Suffice it to say, that while the new company's 
agent, Mr. Kummer, was busily engaged in preparations for exhibiting 
" Moscow " and its companion mechanisms in Tammany Hall, New 

* The exhibitor guaranteed to the company by Maelzel (after having been 
recommended to him by the elder Mr. Willig) was Mr. William F. Kummer, 
who had become perfectly at home and favorably known aU over the coun- 
try, by travelling as an agent for the celebrated manufactories of jewelry in his 
native Baden. From Mr. Kummer, now living in Philadelphia at an ad- 
vanced age, I have learned what is. related in the text. — The dates of this 
second visit to Boston were furnished by Mr. Kent. 

f Maelzel embarked for Europe (so Mr. Kummer informs me) on the 11th of 
September. Although he had made the sale of his "Moscow" on the 22d 
of August (three days before re-opening his exhibition, after closing it on 
account of the warm weather on the 26th of July) he continued to exhibit it in 
connexion with the Chess-player and Trumpeter until the 6th of September. 
It was not till the 13th of September, when he was already four days at sea, 
that "Mr. Maelzel," i.e. the new company, advertised the re-opening of his 
exhibition, in compliance with numerous solicitations, etc. 



k 



460 Incidents in the History of 

York, he was suddenly joined by the great exhibitor on the 13th day 
of April, 1829, then just landed from the Havre packet. The company, 
I should judge, had not found Maelzel's exhibition without Maelzel so 
successful, but that they were very glad to enter into new arrange- 
ments with him, in pursuance of which his automata and theirs were 
to be exhibited, for a time, in some kind of partnership. To all appear- 
ance, Maelzel remained in New York, without making excursions else- 
whither, for a full year.* This must have been Schlumberger's first 
residence there, except for comparatively short periods; and to this 
first opportunity of associating with the New York amateurs may 
be referred his connexion with the late Judge Fisk. I know nothing 
of their relations with each other beyond what is furnished by one 
rather interesting piece of evidence : — among the articles which came 
into the late Dr. Mitchell's possession, along with the Automaton, were 
copies of the two pamphlets in which the First and Second, and then 
the Third, of your Games of the London and Edinhurgh Matchj were 
issued in advance of the work as a whole. These bore the name of 
Theodore S. FtsJcj with the addition, subsequently made. Presented to 
his friendj Mr. Schlumherger. The date of the presentation had been , 
given, but the last and only important figure was accidentally torn off. 
Maelzel came on to Philadelphia, after his year-long residence in 
New York, and opened his hall for exhibitions from the last of Sep- 
tember until the first of December, 1830. From this date, my ability 
to trace a complete itinerary of my Turkish hero's campaign ceases. 
I judge that about this time Maelzel began to make some of those dis- 
tant excursions, the existence of which is perfectly ascertained, but the 
existence alone, without either date or incidents. He made one long ] 
journey, at least, to Pittsburg, and from thence down the Ohio and the 
Mississippi, with longer or shorter halts for exhibitions, at Cincin- 
nati, Louisville, and New Orleans ;t and such recollections of some of 

* The exhibition in Tammany Hall continued from the 18th of May, 1829, 1 
to the 24th of April, 1830. It appears that he had brought over with him 
from Paris what he calls a " Diorama and Mechanical Theatre." On the 
26th of September, 1829, he offers this for sale, together with his late useless 
acquisition, the " Whist-player," and another articles of his exhibition. On thei 
28th of January, 1830, he informs the public, that he had enriched his exhi- 
tion with another mechanism of his own, the " Carousel." 

f Experience has taught me to put no coDfidence in such mere guesses at 
dates as have been given me for all of these visits, except the tour of 1836, 
afterwards mentioned. Everybody and everything has, in turn, regularly misled 



American Chess. 461 

these exhibitions, as have been communicated to me, induce me to 
think that they may belong to the space between December, 1830, and 
a long residence here during the summer and autumn of 1831 — ex- 
tending also, possibly, through the winter of 1831 and '32. A curious 
circumstance connected with this residence is Maelzel's again announc- 
ing by advertisement (late in the year 1831) that he is about to aban- 
don public exhibitions, and that he offers for sale his Conflagration of 
Moscow, and the other now numerous articles of his Exhibition — 
always omitting the Automaton Chess-Player. This advertisement, 
like a former one of the same kind, may have been the prelude to a 
second voyage to Europe.* For two years after this date, I have been 
able to glean nothing of Maelzel's movements, beyond an exhibition 
season in New York during the melancholy cholera year of 1832, and 
a third visit to Boston in the summer of 1833.t If he made any tour 
to Canada — according to the statement of the Palamede and the tradi- 
tions of Philadelphia — I should assign it to this period, so barren of 

me, except written documents, and the newspaper advertisements and edito- 
rials. Mr. Theophilus French, of Cincinnati, kindly attempted to examine the 
newspapers of that city for me, but the old files could not be found. An appli- 
cation to Louisville for information received no answer. Mr. Skinner, Secretary 
of the St. Louis Chess Club, assured me that Maelzel never exhibited in that 
city. An obliging letter from Mr. Charles A. Maurian, 'Jr., of New Orleans, 
convinced me — of what I had long doubted — that Maelzel was at least once 
in New Orleans. Some confusion has been created by the same tour having 
been made by " Maelzel's Exhibition " [minus the Trumpeter and the Chess- 
Player), while in the hands of the Boston Company. A searching of the 
New Orleans newspapers, in particular — with a view, especially, to deter- 
mining the fact and date of Maelzel's embarkation for Havana from that port 
late in 1836, is surely a desideratum. 

* Mr. Mickley is quite confident that Maelzel returned to Europe more 
than once. The death of Mr. Wilhg, and the destruction by fire of all Mael-' 
zel's correspondence with him, make it impossible to verify this impression ; 
which, however, is rendered highly probable by the entire silence of the 
newspapers during certain long periods. 

f '' Daring this latter visit " (says the well-known amateur, Mr. Hammond, 
in a note to Mr. Kent), " I had the audacity, boy as I was, to call on Mr. 
Maelzel one day, and propose a game with the Automaton, He received me 
with his accustomed suavity — escorted me into an inner room, where two 
gentlemen were quietly enjoying themselves at Chess — and in due time I had 
the satisfaction of a game, which was soon terminated, and I succeeded in 
coming off only ' second best.' " 



462 Incidents in the History of 

other dates.'*' It is not at all unlikely, however, that Maelzel either 
chose to lie by, for long periods, here or in New York — more probably 
here — without exhibiting at all, as he could well afiford to do, or ex- 
hibiting without finding it worth his while to advertise. Maelzel's 
Hall was so well known, and so popular a resort, that if the tide of 
visitors had once been fairly made to set in, by a month's advertising, 
it continued to flow without further notice, until the newspapers gave 
the melancholy announcement, that the favorite exhibitor was about 
to pack up and go elsewhere. 

But if Maelzel had really been for a while inactive, he ceased to be 
so, and was never more in motion than during the last four years of 
his American campaign. In 1834, after a three months' exhibition- 
season in Philadelphia, he would appear to have gone South as 
far as Eichmond;t and in November, of the same year, he is 
found in Charleston, South Carohna.f His visit to Kichmond was 
marked by the sudden and dangerous illness of Schlumberger— an acci- 
dent, which not only interrupted the exhibition for a time, but also 

* Mr. W. A. Merry, of Montreal (who submitted my inquiries to several 
older residents and veteran Chess-players), and Mr. D. Rodger, have been 
able to find no evidence or tradition of Maelzel's ever having exhibited in 
that city, the most accessible and the most attractive for his objects of any in 
Canada. The ingenious Dr. Palmer, himself an exhibitor and a curious anti- 
quarian, has also kindly made inquiries for me, and gives a decided opinion 
against the statement of the Palamede, 

f Maelzel was certainly more than once at Baltimore, and his second visit 
was most probably made at this time ; but the friend who examined for me 
the Baltimore papers for the first visit (in 182t) was unable to continue the 
examination beyond that date. I have myself searched the National Intelli- 
gencer in vain for any advertisement of Maelzel's during this year. If, there- 
fore, he paused to exhibit at Washington, he must have contented himself 
with posting bills. 

X Mr. Charles E. R. Drayton, Secretary of tlie Charleston Chess Club, 
remembers ih.Q fad of Maelzel's having exhibited in Charleston, but nothing 
more. Mr. Robert T. Paine, of Boston, went to Beaufort, S. C, to observe a 
certain total eclipse of the sun, and remembers, that afterwards, during the 
same tour, he played with Schlumberger at Charleston. Now, my astro- 
nomical colleague informs me that the eclipse in question occurred on the 
30th of November, 1834. In spite, therefore, of George Walker's condem- 
nation of Yillot's too learned book, the Chess-player may admit that astro- 
nomy can, after all, be of some use. 



American Chess. 463 

confirmed in the mind of one acute observer, at least, the probable 
hypothesis of his being the moving power of the Automaton.* It is 
also an odd circumstance, that by the advertisements of this and one 
other year, Maelzel would appear to have been in two places at once. 
A closer examination leads me to the more reasonable conclusion, that 
he occasionally found it profitable to divide his numerous curiosities, 
and to allow an agent to exhibit the attractive Conflagration of Mos- 
cow, &c., at Richmond, for instance, while he remained for a while 
behind at Washington with his inseparable allies, the Chess-Player and 
Schlumberger.t The last of these distant expeditions — if I may rely 

* The "acute observer" here alluded to was Edgar A. Poe. He appears 
not to have been in Richmond in 1834 ; but he was living there as editor of 
the Southern Literary Messenger at the time of Maelzel's second visit, and 
inserted in the number of that magazine for April, 1836, the very clever 
paper which is now found in the fourth volume of his Works (pp. 346-10). 
He there speaks of Schlumberger's illness as having occurred during the /o?'- 
mer visit, without specifying the year. The dates of both visits were most 
obhgingly ascertained for me by Gustavus A. Myers, Esq., by searching the 
Chamberlain's books for the memoranda of moneys received of Maelzel for 
his licence to exhibit. These memoranda were made under date of August 
21, September 15th, and September 20th, 1834; December 10th, 1835 ; and 
January 6th, 1836. I am indebted foi: Mr. Myers's assistance to the ever- 
friendly interference of Dr. Cohen, of Baltimore. 

f My dates for this year are: March 15 — May 31, at Philadelphia; May 
23 — July 5, at New York: August 31, Maelzel pays for a week's licence at 
Richmond; September 8 — November 1, at Philadelphia; September 15th 
and 20th pays for licences again at Richmond ; November 30, at Charleston. 
In 1835, Maelzel is at Washington (according to his advertisements in the 
National Intelligencer) from November 27 to January 16 of the next year: 
and yet on the 10th of the same December he procures a licence at Richmond 
for exhibiting the Conflagration of Moscow, etc , and makes another payment 
for the same purpose on the 6th of January. The exhibitions at Washington 
and at Richmond were, therefore, nearly parallel with each other. I have 
become satisfied, however, since the text was written, that the exhibition at 
New York, from May to July, and that at Philadelphia, from September to 
November, 1834, were not Maelzel's exhibitions, but exhibitions simply of 
Maelzel's Moscow — whether of an imitation merely of his remarkable piece 
of mechanism — and such, I am told, were made — or of that sold in 1828 to 
the Boston company, which he afterwards replaced for his own exhibitions 
by a new construction. The circumstance that Maelzel made no protest 
(that I can find) against the Moscow being advertised as his makes the latter 
eupposition the more probable one. 



464 Incidents in the History of 

upon local recollections, unsupported by documentary evidence — was 
a second tour to the West during the autumn of 1836, and the ensuing 
winter.* He is found here again in the spring, and here he remained 
until he left our shores, never to return. It must not be imagined, 
however, that he was always to be found at " Maelzel's Hall." He seems 
to have given up his hold upon that favorite building at the time when 
he advertised his Exhibition for sale, preparatory to an absence from the 
city for two years. During his subsequent visits, he exhibited once in 
the Union building, at the corner of Chesnut and Eighth Streets, but 
/ at other times in the Masonic Hall, Chesnut Street. His name is last 
associated with the Adelphi Buildings, in Fifth Street, below Walnut. 
When he had decided on a visit to Havana — to be followed, I under- 
stand, by a tour through the principal cities of South America — he re- 
solved to reconstruct the most attractive mechanism of his Exhibition 
— the Conflagration of Moscow — on a grander scale. For this purpose 
he rented the Adelphi Buildings, where he kept all kinds of mechanics 
busily at work, during the summer and autumn of 1837. To superin- 
tend and expedite the work, he occupied private rooms in the same 
building himself. It may be recollected on how Umited a scale he had 
been compelled to form his establishment during his first visits to New 
York, Boston, and Philadelphia; and that Schlumberger, when the 
contract was originally made between them, was so universal in his 
duties as to make any other assistant unnecessary. Maelzel's subse- 
quent success, and the great enlargement of his Exhibition, increased 
his regular staff, and relieved Schlumberger from his factotum role. 
His preparations for Cuba induced still another improvement. He 
took into pay an experienced exhibitor by the name of Fischer — partly, 
to be sure, because such a Head of Department had become necessary 
for the execution of his grand schemes, but partly also because the 
same Fischer had a wife, whose housekeeping talents would make it 
possible for the entire establishment to live together — an object of 
some consequence in a strange country. The system was carried into 
execution, by way of rehearsal, in the Adelphi Buildings, for some time 
before the embarkation for Cuba. 

While Maelzel was thus absorbed in his preparations for Havana, 
Sdhlumberger was more than ever at leisure to accept the invitations 

* The fact of Maelzel's having been at Pittsburg in September or October, 
1836, on his way to the West and South-West, was obtained for me by Mr. 
Mickley from J. Chislett, Esq., of Pittsburg, Architect, after my own applica- 
tion in another quarter had failed to elicit an answer. 



American Chess. 465 

of our amateurs to play at their houses. At all events, the most dis- 
tinct information I have received, in reference to such engagements, 
belongs to this period. The impression left on my mind by these anec- 
dotes, compared with those which go back a few years earUer, is, that 
so far from having grown more careless in his habits, or more indifferent 
to the respectabiUties of society, Schlumberger had rather outlived 
some of the influences of a hand-to-mouth life in the estamineis of Paris 
and in the free-and-easy old Cafe de la Regence. He had certainly 
grown more and more into the confidence and affection of Maelzel. I 
doubt, that is, whether Maelzel made arrangements to keep Schlum- 
berger always so near him, as to be regularly his companion at the 
pleasant dinners I have more than once alluded to, until the intimate 
association of several years had taught the cautious old German the 
full worth of his faithful and amiable assistant, and had gradually called 
forth in his heart a feeling of real attachment to him.* Their con- 
nexion had lasted so long, they were always so much together, their 
manner towards each other was such, that an opinion grew up, among 
our German citizens, at least, that Schlumberger was a near relation, 
or an adopted son, of Maelzel's ; nay, some thought him to be actually 
his son. 

I do not know that any of the anecdotes I have heard of his playing 
here, either in public or private, during these later years, have enough 
of interest for others to deserve repetition, yet one or two I will men- 
tion, were it only for the sake of the names, which I shall thus have a 
chance of recording in association with that of my hero. Maelzel, it 
has been seen, was willing and desirous that his director should play 
with certain amateurs, in every city, but he was not willing he should 
play with everybody. In 1831, he sternly broke up a nice little 
arrangement of MuViouses for privately enjoying a perfect paradise of 
Gi'uyere cheese and white wine, along Avith games at the Rook, in the 
back shop of a certain free-living Swiss watch-maker, on the ground 
that he did not wish such people to know, that he had a superior 
Cliess-player in his pay — but I suspect the main reason was, that he 
did not like the man.t On the other hand, he put no obstacle in the 

* The dinner-picture of Signer Blitz belongs to the exhibition-seasoa in 
Philadelphia, from April 25th to June 25th, 1836. He was daily with Mael- 
zel, in his rooms, at that period, in preparation for his own part in the per- 
formances of the evening. 

f Schlumberger and Yaton (for so the watchmaker was called) reckoned 
tljemselves as compatriots. Miihlhausen as it is in German) was politically 

20* 



I 



\ 



466 Incidents in the History of 

way of his playing in a place less intermediate between a gentleman's 
parlor and a Parisian estaminet : Schlumberger regularly frequented a 
hotel or restaurant, at the corner of Second and Dock streets, equally 
famous for its monopoly of*Poughkeepsie ale and the presence of some 
quiet players at Chess or Draughts.* Tt was a safe resort, for nobody 
there knew Schlumberger, or had a single thought for Maelzel's secret. 
Both here and in the watchmaker's back shop, Schlumberger was the 
sam6 quiet, sober man — always absorbed in his game — fond of the 
light wine and pleasant ale, but fond within the limits of strict sobriety. 
In 1834, while Maelzel was exhibiting in the Masonic Hall, Chesnut 
street, Mr. Samuel Smyth, one of the most popular frequenters of the 
Athenseum, then a handsome youth (I take leave to say) of eighteen, 
played a game with the Automaton, and won. The event — partly no 
doubt from the interesting appearance of the youthful champion — was 
unusually exciting : a gentleman, among the spectators, was so far beside 
himself, that he rushed out of the room, and ran up Chestnut street, with- 
out his hat, to publish the rare phenomenon of a victory over the 
invincible Turk. The next morning, the youth called at the exhibition 
room ; Maelzel received him with more than mere courtesy — he was 
overrunning with kindness for the young — and forthwith set him down 
to "play the game out" (such is Mr. Smyth's phrase) with Schlum- 
berger. | So far from showing any ill-humor at his defeat, the good- 

a part of Switzerland until near the close of the last century, and its factories 
are still supported, to a large extent, by the capital of the Swiss town of 
Basle. While George "Walker, therefore, calls Maelzel's American director a 
German^ our G-erman residents here always speak of him as a Swiss. 

* Schlumberger was not only fond of Draughts — whether the Polish or the 
English game — but reckoned himself even stronger at Draughts than at Chess. 

f While the proof of this page is before me, I learn from Mr. Smyth, that 
his victory was not won in public. The game was not finished during the 
short time allowed to the Automaton during Maelzel's later exhibtions. The 
position was, therefore, taken down, and Mr. Smyth was invited to call and 
play out the game in private. The only witness present, besides Maelzel, 
was the friend who accompanied Mr. Smyth, and who was no other than the 
hero of the hat. And finally, the incident of the hat must have occurred after 
this private interview, and not during the public exhibition. — I let the text 
stand, to show how difficult it is to gather from conversation — and, above all, 
from the conversation of one interview — a perfectly' correct view of any 
occurrence. 



American Chess. 467 

natured director took the warmest interest in the superior Chess talent 
of his conqueror. He made him come frequently to play with him, in 
private, at the hall, and encouraged him with the assurance, that with per- 
severance in such study of the game he would be at least equal to Mr. 
Vezin. I need not say, that such amiable and disinterested attentions 
to a stranger youth left a most agreeable impression upon the mind 
of Mr. Smyth. Equally favorable to Schlumberger are the recollec- 
tions of Mr. Henry Gr. Freeman — so well known in former years as by 
far the most rapid and brilliant player at the Athenaeum — to whose 
house Schlumberger was introduced in 1837 by the late Mr. Mcllhenney. 
It was during the same season, just before Maelzel's departure for 
Cuba, that Schlumberger played several times with my colleague. Pro- 
fessor Yethake, the Provost of our University. I have spoken else- 
where of my venerable friend's strength at Chess and of his intimacy 
with Mr. Yezin. He was now a new-comer to the city, and was for the 
first time in the neighborhood of the Automaton since it was played 
by Coleman, at Kew York, in 1826. Mr. Yezin, it is understood, had 
continued to receive Schlumberger at his house, with all the zeal and 
the deference of a good student at Chess, on every occasion of the 
Automaton's being here, after the first visit of 1827. If Mr. Smyth is 
correct in his reminiscences, Mr. Yezin, with all his diligence and talent, 
had never been able to make Schlumberger tremble for the possession 
of his magisterial seat : the last match between them, of nine games, 
gave but one victory to Mr. Yezin's score. He was now desirous of 
seeing the strength of his new friend. Professor Yethake, tried against 
one, whom he himself had found so uniformly invincible. He, there- 
fore, brought Schlumberger frequently to Professor Yethake's house 
during the autumn of 1837 ; and, with all his amiability, I have no 
doubt he felt some satisfaction, in finding that his friend was no more 
able to make an effectual stand against him than he had been himself 
Professor Yethake remembers, that at their last meeting he was so 
unusually fortunate as of three games to win one and draw another, 
while Mr. Yezin of two games lost both — a result which made 
Mr. Yezin good-humoredly remonstrate with Schlumberger for not 
playing as badly with him as with his friend. This last meeting took 
place (Professor Yethake beheves) immediately before the final de- 
parture of the unfortunate director. 

Nearly every particular of Maelzel's last expedition is involved for 
me in more or less of obscurity. The absence of the proper means of 
information, and the presence of too much information that cannot be 



468 Incidents in the History of 

relied upon, have combined to perplex me in reference not merely to 
what took place at Havana, but also to v^hat was done here, under 
the eyes of residents still living. Even the port from which he em- 
barked was a point to be settled only by the unsatisfactory balancing 
of conflicting testimony, all of it imperfect, until the very last moment 
left me by the printer. The tradition is constant, at the West and 
South- West, that Maelzel went to Havana by way of New Orleans. 
For a long time I knew not how to deal with a tradition, so deeply 
rooted, while opposed by a similar tradition in favor of Philadelphia, 
until it occurred to me, that both might be true, but true of different 
visits to Havana. I have learned very lately, that this conjecture was 
the true solution of the problem — that Maelzel was twice at Havana, 
and that his first visit thither was most probably the continuation of 
his tour to the West in the autumn of 1836 : it was far more inviting, 
and even more convenient, to take Havana on his return to Philadel- 
phia by sea, than to retrace his steps by the great rivers. It was the 
very gratifying success of this first visit to Havana that made him so 
eager to return. It would seem, that he had a second time sold his 
Conflagration of Moscow ^ and that the Havanese had expressed great 
disappointment at not having been permitted to see what they had 
heard of as so admirable. He, therefore, promised to return, and to 
return with a Moscow for therrij far more beautiful than had been seen 
by anybody before them. On his return to our city — in the spring of 
1837, as I suppose — he began to devote himself (as I mentioned 
before) to the re-construction of this magnificent panorama, with an 
interest so absorbing, that he allowed the entire summer and autumn 
to go by without giving any exhibition. 

As usual, his excessive particularity had tormented his mechanics and 
artists, with undoing and doing over their work, until he came near being 
too late for the opening of the best season at Havana. As it was, after 
having kept the vessel in which he was to go a week beyond her time, 
he was obliged to pack up his Moscow with some details still unfinished. 
He sailed from this port on the 9th of November, on board a vessel of 
his friend, Mr. Ohl's — the brig Lancet (Young, master) — a date which 
various ^' false witnesses," with their ^'distinct recollection," and "cir- 
cumstances" supported by what looked like a " document," contrived 
to divert me from discovering, until the sound of the press was in my 
ears. The great object was to be in Havana in time to have the exhi- 
bition open during the only good season for public amusements in a 
rigidly Catholic country so near the torrid zone — namely, from Christ- 



American Chess. 469 

mas to Ash Wednesday, which fell that year upon the last day of 
February. Considering what Maelzel had to do — or, at any rate, 
what he assuredly would do — ^before being or thinking himself ready 
to open his doors, the 9th of November was quite late enough for him 
to start. The passage usually occupied from ten to fifteen days after 
leaving the Capes. 

There were persons at Havana with whom Maelzel was intimately 
associated during both his visits — Mr. Francisco Alvarez, merchant (a 
correspondent of Mr. Ohl's) ; Mr. Edelmann, a German music-dealer ; 
and Mr. Amelung, another fellow-countryman ; but all of these good 
witnesses have been dead for some years. Even the old Diario de 
Hahafta, which could have given me Maelzel's advertisements, at least, 
has been looked for by an obliging correspondent, but the Diario has 
vanished with the rest. The correspondent in question, Mr. Julius 
Runge, a German merchant, was already settled in Cuba at the time 
of Maelzel's second visit, and the active Signer Blitz arrived there from 
New York only a few days after Maelzel, to carry on an exhibition of 
his own. These are the only living witnesses, then on the spot, with 
whom I have been able to confer or correspond.* Both are in the highest 
degTce intelligent and trustworthy; but neither was interested to 
become perfectly acquainted with all of the doings of Maelzel ; nor do 
they perfectly agree in such imperfect recollections as they still retain 
of what passed so long ago. There is no doubt that Maelzel consumed 
the usual four or five weeks in getting ready, but there is also no 
doubt that his doors were at length open, by the end of Advent, to 
take advantage of the first reaction in favor of mirth at Christmas-tide. 
He had more than met the expectations of his Havana fi-iends by the 
splendor of his new Panorama, and had himself good reason to be 
satisfied with his success. Mr. Runge remembers having been a fre- 
quent visitor to the exhibition, and knows that it was a favorite resort 
during the Carnival season. But the end did not correspond with this 
happy beginning. The exhibition became at length a disastrous failure. 
How long it dragged on its feeble existence — when it closed — I have 
no information. Some time in May or June (as near as can be recol- 
lected), Maelzel wrote a piteous letter to his old associate, Mr. Kum- 
mer, desiring him to engage an exhibition-room for him in Philadelphia, 

* I am indebted for the information received from Mr. Runge to the kind 
offices of his brother, Mr. Gustavus Runge, the accomplished architect, whom 
I am happy to number among my friends. 



470 Incidents in the History of 

at the same time informing him of his misfortunes in Havana, and 
dating them from the death of his faithful assistant and director. Poor 
Schlumberger had died of yellow fever — at what precise date, and 
under what circumstances, I have been entirely unable to ascertain. 
His illness must have been short, for Signer Bhtz, who was naturally a 
good deal at Maelzel's rooms, had heard nothing of it. While busy 
one morning in his own exhibition-room, he was surprised to see 
Maelzel enter, with unwonted marks of haste and agitation, and to 
hear him say abruptly, ^'Schlumberger is dead!" He thinks this was 
in the month of February. Mr. Kummer recollects that Maelzel, in 
his letter, spoke of having lost the best part of the Carnival by Schlum- 
berger's death. I have little doubt, therefore, that Schlumberger died 
about the 20th of February, or a little earher. But for such concur- 
rence, however, between these two independent witnesses, I could by 
no means have accepted so early a date. Mr. Runge left Havana for 
G-ermany in March, that year, and speaks with confidence of Maelzel's 
exhibition, as being still successful, and his director still alive, up to the 
moment of his own departure. The yellow fever, too, does not usually 
visit Havana until much later. Dr. Antommarchi, the physician of 
Napoleon, died at St. Jago de Cuba on the 3d of April ; but the scourge 
does not appear to have reached Havana until about six weeks after- 
wards ; for travellers who left that city on the 30th of May, reporting 
the city as then healthy, spoke of the yellow fever cases as having 
occurred there about the middle of that month.* Mr. Joseph L. 
Nobre, master of one of Mr. Ohl's vessels (the Otis), is confident 
that he saw Schlumberger, as well as Maelzel, at Havana during the 
winter and spring, and he thinks he saw them last together in the 
month of April. A date so much later, as would be indicated by this 
less positive testimony, is more consistent with Maelzel's remaining at 
Havana until the middle of July : that he should allow five months to 
elapse, after an event so fatal to his interests, without making any 
movement to return to Philadelphia, would certainly appear to be very 
unaccountable. 

Mr. Runge remembers to have been informed, on his return from 
Europe, that Maelzel had taken great pains to keep the fact of Schlum- 
berger's death as secret as possible. He undoubtedly calculated, at 
the moment, upon providing himself with some other director, and 
upon continuing his exhibitions with the same alacrity and success as 

* From a letter in the Boston Evening Transcript, 



American Chess. 471 

before. If so, he was deplorably mistaken — and that too from a 
cause, which he could not have taken into account, namely, the sud- 
den and absolute prostration of his own spirit, hitherto so hopeful and 
so indomitable, consequent upon the loss of one, who had been for 
so many years his devoted and efficient ally. Schlumberger had 
grown to be nearer to his heart than he himself had been aware of. 
He used to reproach his director, at times, with being a mere child in 
everything but chess ; but it was this very childlike inability to take 
care of himself — this childlike disposition to cling to the support and 
adhere to the interests of his strong-minded but kind-hearted 
employer— that had insensibly led Maelzel to regard him more as a 
son than as a salaried assistant. He might again, perhaps, draw to 
his side some needy first-rate from the Cafe de la Regence^ but where 
could he expect to find the same amiable facihty of character, the 
same friendly companionship ? Reflections like these must have been 
doubly distressing to the solitary old man, who now lacked but four 
years of his three score and ten. There is no reason to think, that 
Maelzel closed his exhibition abruptly upon Schlumberger's death ; 
nay, it is doubtful whether he even made any change in it ; and that 
too for a reason, that brings to view another of the perplexing con- 
siderations connected with this Cuban campaign. It is by no means 
certain, namely, that Maelzel took the Automaton with him in this 
second visit to Havana. Mr. Runge's expressions, it is true, clearly 
imply, that the chess-playing of the Automaton formed a part of the 
exhibition ; and to us it would seem, at first sight, that without the 
co-operating presence of the Turk, with his strange mystery, all 
the glory and charm of the exhibition would have departed. But 
we find that such was not the case. From the time of the Baltimore 
adventure in 18^7, Maelzel had occasionally left out the Chess Player 
from his programme entirely, or had reserved it for private and occa- 
sional exhibitions alone. Such was the case when he exhibited here 
in the autumn of 1836. In the tour, which he made immediately after 
the exhibition, to the West, to New Orleans, and finally to Havana, \ 
he did indeed take the Automaton along with him ; but when about 
to embark for his last expedition, he is said to have left the Automaton 
behind — to be a second time a solitary prisoner in the old store-room 
— and to have given as a reason for doing so his fear of Schlumberger's 
being disqualified, by some chess-dinner imprudence, from getting into it 
without manifest danger of making some awkward exposure. If Mael- 
zel really said this, he said it because it was the most convenient tiding 



472 Incidents in the History of 

to say. The real reason, no doubt, of his now being rather backward 
to bring the Automaton prominently before the public was the fact, 
that the secret, in all its detail, had at length been published, under cir- 
cumstances to produce some approach to conviction. Moure t's treach- 
erous disclosures to the writer in the Magazin Fittoresque for 1834 had 
been republished, with additional details and a distinct certificate to its 
authenticity, in a periodical of the highest possible authority in Chess- 
matters, the Palamede of La Bourdonnais for 1836. This Palamede 
article, by De Tournay, had been immediately copied into the newspa- 
pers: — while Maelzel was here for the last time, in the Adelphi Build- 
ings, he had the opportunity of reading his old director's disclosures in 
Mr. Robert Walsh's paper, the National GazetteJ^ It is not impossible, 
therefore, that Schlumberger was separated from the mechanism, which 
he had so long inspired, at the moment of his death. If so, the exhibi- 
tion may have gone on without any immediate change in the pro- 
gramme.! But the loss of one, who, by his fidelity and skill, had become 
as indispensable to Maelzel in the character of Assistant as in that of 
Director, must have begun speedily to tell. Fischer and his wife saw 
that the loss was decisive of the fate of the exhibition, and thereupon 
abandoned Maelzel at once. The double blow thus inflicted — first by 
death, and then by desertion — the mortal stroke, that crushed his inter- 
est, while it broke his heart — must have decided Maelzel perforce to close 

* The number of the National Gazette, for Feb. 6, 1837, containing De 
rournay's article, was found among Maelzel's papers after his death. 

f I have been so often led into error by trusting even the most veracious of 
witnesses, where documents were wanting, that even in this case, I cannot speak 
of the Automaton's being left behind as more than "probable." Mr. Kum- 
mer, who had the key of the old store-room during Maelzel's absence at Ha- 
vana, thinks he saw the Chess-Player there, packed away in five boxes — 
dismembered, and mixed up with other articles, with a view to preserve its 
secret even if the boxes should be opened. But is it certain, that he could 
guess the contents of the boxes by their outside ? The Chess-Player was 
mixed up with portions of the Carousel But the Carousel was precisely what 
Maelzel was most likely to have had with him at Havana. The mode of 
packing could not, and did not, preserve the secret, but was just snch packing 
as would be made under Maelzel's circumstances at Havana, in distress, and 
with little help. Until, therefore, more is heard from Havana— until, espe- 
cially, the advertisements in the Diario have been reported upon— I shall still 
retain some leaning for the opinion, that Schlumberger and the Automaton 
were together at Havana, at the time of his decease. 



American Chess. 473 

his exhibition entirely. Then it was that he looked back to our friendly 
city, and — while making such arrangements as he could, in his helpless 
position, for the voyage — wrote to his old ally, Mr. Kummer, the letter 
which I mentioned before. The letter was gloomy in its backward 
view of the past — gloomy in its prospect of the future — ominous signs, 
in the case of a man naturally so cheerful and so hopeful as Maelzel. 

Maelzel's preparations had been completed in time to enable him to 
take passage on board a vessel of Mr. Ohl's — the brig Otis, commanded 
by his friend, Capt. Nobre — which had arrived in the port of Havana 
about the first of July. The vessel started on her return-voyage on 
Saturday, the 14:th of the same month. When Maelzel came on board, 
with the other passengers, Capt. Nobre was struck by the remarkable 
change, which had taken place in his appearance, since he had seen 
him with Schlumberger only three months before, in April. At that 
time not the sHghtest sign of wearing disease or natural decay could 
be seen : he was as stout and florid, as active and as lively, as he had 
been twelve years before, when h^ landed at New York, still a young 
man at the age of fifty-three. But now it was evident that he was 
" breaking up" — that all the powers of mind and body were rapidly 
sinking, as though the source from which they had derived their 
strength had been suddenly withdrawn. He sat on the deck, with a 
little travelling chess-board in his hand, clinging with the last exertion 
of his faculties to his favorite game. As soon as the brig had cleared 
the harbor, and the captain had become at liberty, Maelzel produced 
his board and invited him to play. They sat down, in view of the 
Moro Castle, and played two games. The weakness of Maelzel's play, 
compared with his former strength, was a further evidence of his rapid 
decay. He won the first game, to be sure — for his antagonist had no 
great skill — but his strength did not sustain him equally for a second. 
The position came to be one not much unlike the favorite one of the 
Automaton — three Pawns against three Pawns. Capt. Nobre, who 
had the move, was dimly aware, that all depended upon which Pawn 
he should push first, and asked his skilful adversary, as a known master 
in end-games, to advise him. Maelzel, usually so courteous and so 
obhging, answered, with a little of the sick man's peevishness, " You 
must play your own game — I cannot tell you what to move." Capt. 
Nobre, being thus thrown upon his own resources, meditated his move 
well, pushed the right Pawn, and won.* After dining — or attempting 

* Dr. S. W. Mitcliell has in his possession a very small inlaid marine chess- 



474 Incidents in the History of 

to dine — with the rest of the passengers, Maelzel took to his berth, and 
never left it again. He had brought on board with him a case of claret 
wine. This he made the steward place on the edge of his berth, that 
it might be always within his reach; and so long as his strength 
lasted he might be seen, from time to time, raising the bottle itself, with 
weak and trembling hands, to his lips — for it was impossible for him, 
in such a condition, to make use of a glass. He asked for nothing, 
received nothing, and said nothing. It vi^as evident, that he was 
perfectly aware of his real situation ; but whether he saw all as a 
blank before him, or whether he turned back in mind and heart 
to the Christian hope, whereto he had been made heir in that sacred 
edifice of pious Eatisbon, in which the music of his father's organ 
was wont to rise with the incense of the Holy Sacrifice — in either case 
he made no sign. For six days he continued in this state, with little 
appcvarance of change; but on the evening of Friday, as the vessel 
entered upon the shoals off the North American coast, the captain 
perceived that he began to sink rapidly; and early on Saturday 
morning, the 21st of July, he was found dead in his berth. With no 
other rites, than fastening a four-pound shot to the feet, the body was 
launched into the deep. The brig was at that moment off Charleston. 
Capt. Nobre went through the remaining duties, which were devolved 
upon him by the occasion. He caused the trunks of the deceased to 
be opened, and the contents to be inventoried, in the presence of the 
passengers. Twelve gold doubloons — and these, too, advanced to him 
by Mr. Ohl's correspondent, Mr. Francisco Alvarez — constituted all 
that remained of the treasures of Maelzel. One article only of some 
interest was found — the gold medal, by Loos, which had been presented 
to the great mechanician by the King of Prussia.* 

The news of the death of Maelzel was received in Philadelphia with 
a universal feeling of sincere regret. The language of the newspapers 
was but the echo of the general voice. Mr. Joseph K. Chandler, at 
this moment our Minister at Naples, then editor of the United States 
Gazette^ made a happy allusion, in a feeling obituary notice, to those 

board, wliicli there is reason to think was that on which Maelzel played these 
his last games. 

* This medal, after passing through several hands, was finally sold to the 
United States Mint, and, instead of being added to the very rich collection of 
coins and medals, there deposited, was barbarously melted down. Although 
not unique, it deserved a better fate, as well for the sake of the great artist 
who made it, as for its association with Maelzel. 



American Chess. 475 

productions of inventive genius, with vrhich all that was generally- 
known of Maelzel was associated. '' His ingenuity seemed to breathe 
life into the work of his hands, but it could not retain the breath in his 
own nostrils ; the kindly smile that he had for children will be no more 
lighted up on earth ; and the furrow of thought that marked his brow 
as he inspected the movements of the famous Turk, will no more con- 
vey intelligence. He has gone, we hope, where the music of his Har- 
monicons will be exceeded ; but his body will rest beneath the blue 
waves of the Atlantic, till the ' last trump' shall sound for the convoca- 
tion of quick and dead." To this day, the memory of Maelzel i-s cherished 
with a feehng of affectionate respect among those who knew him here, 
whether merely by attendance upon his exhibitions, or by personal 
intercourse with himself. His position, in exhibiting, for his own 
emolument, the productions of his unsurpassed genius for curious 
mechanism, was felt to be hardly less dignified than that of the great 
painter, who derives profit from opening a gallery of his own works, or 
of the great composer, who seeks to derive support from his art, by pre- 
siding at a concert of his own elaborate symphonies. He won all hearts, 
moreover, by his fondness for children and his delight in making them 
happy at his exhibitions, by the liberal use of his profits for objects of 
benevolence, and by his amiable and obliging disposition, recommended 
as it was by manners gentle and urbane. He left no complaints behind 
him of contracts unfulfilled or bills unpaid. Whatever there may have 
been in his private morals, that might have detracted from this favora- 
ble impression, was forced upon the attention of nobody, and was 
never inquired into ; and I do not consider it any part of my office, as 
historian of the Automaton, to draw from their dread abode the per- 
sonal frailties of Maelzel.* 

* Maelzel (sometimes written, and always pronounced, Malzl) was born at 
Ratisbon (Regensburg) in BaVaria, on the Feast of the Assumption (August 
15th) 1772, and baptized by the name of John Nepomucene, from the patron- 
saint of Bohemia, St. John of Nepomuk (Joannes Nepomucenus). His father 
was an organ-builder, and a man of great mechanical ingenuity in all respects. 
Maelzel was thoroughly trained to the profession of music, in theory and in 
practice. At the age of eighteen he was a teacher of the piano at Vienna. 
After a time, however, he became entirely absorbed in curious mechanical 
inventions; but his earliest and most important productions, in this line, Avere 
applications of mechanics to music. Such were the Fanharmonicon, invented 
in 1805, the Trumpeter, in 1808, and the Metronome, in 1815. At the time of 
his death he wanted only about three weeks of sixty-six years. 



476 Incidents in the History of 

Not less tenderly is poor Schlumberger still spoken of by the survivors 
of the far narrower circle, within which it was his humbler lot to move. 
Even those who did not know that the narrow crypt of the Automaton 
had been to him a refuge and a resource in misfortune, judged better 
of him than to set him down as a reckless and worthless adventurer. 
In one whose manners and language gave evidence of birth and edu- 
cation in a respectable position, on whose character neither crime nor 
degrading habits had affixed any stain, they saw nothing worse than 
what they could ascribe to a defective or anomalous organization — a 
devotion, namely, to Chess, so absorbing, as to convert into an exclu- 
sive employment and a livelihood, what should have been but the 
relaxation from the duties of some recognised business or regular pro- 
fession. Whether the course of life which he had ajdopted, after his 
commercial misfortune, had led to his being disowned at home, I have 
no means of knowing ; but that ^e, to the last, clung to some recollec- 
tions of his family, I have been convinced by one piece of testimony, 
that happens to have survived the destruction, which fell so suddenly 
and effectually upon everything that was his or Maelzel*s. Among a 
few papers that came into the hands of the late Dr. Mitchell, along 
with the Automaton, was an ill-bound quarto volume, containing the 
Plates of a Cours de Physique — such a text-book as might have been 
used in some French college. A stencil book-plate bore the name of 
Schlumberger-Blech;* and below was written, in the known hand- 
writing of our Director, donne a Ge. S. (i.e. evidently GuiUaume Schlum- 
herger). This detached volume of an old school-book could have been 
of no earthly use to him ; but it was the memorial of a father or a 
brother ; and as such it had been brought over by poor Schlumberger 
from Europe — it had formed a part of his scanty luggage in all his 
travels over our country — and it had most probably been his companion, 
when he went to Havana to die. I trust that such a trait of character 
will plead in my favor with any reader of mine, who may be disposed 
to think that I have dwelt at too great length, or too tenderly, upon 
the memory of an obscure and unfortunate Chess-player. 

The story of the Automaton, after the loss of its proprietor and its 
director, may be briefly told. Maelzel had made such use or waste of 
the large sums, which he had realized in eleven years of successful 

* I learn from a native of Mulhouse, that this name indicates a connexion 
by marriage between two families there resident, the Schlumbergers and the 
Blechs. 



' American Chess. 477 

exhibitions, that after he had consumed five thousand dollars (it is said) 
upon the reconstruction of his Moscow for Havana, he was obliged to 
procure some advances of money, from his friend Mr. Ohl, for the rest 
of his outfit.* The sum was no greater than could have been easily 
repaid, if the season in Cuba had been at all less overwhelmingly disas- 
trous than it proved to be. As it was, Maelzel died with the debt 
unpaid ; and Mr. Ohl had no other means of reimbursing himself than 
by the sale of what property of the deceased he had in his hands. 
This consisted solely of the various articles of the "Exhibition" — both 
such as Maelzel had taken with him to Havana, and such as he had left 
behind, in the old store-room, of which he had kept possession for so 
many years. The creditor immediately took out Letters of Adminis- 
tration, and, on the 21st of August, advertised the entire Exhibition 
for sale by public auction, precisely in the condition in which all had 
been packed up for the last time by the exhibitor himself. After some 
postponements, the sale finally took place at Mr. Ohl's store- house, on 
Friday, the 14th of September. The Chess-player was the first article 
put up, and was hastily knocked down to a bid of four hundred dol- 
lars. It was, in fact, bought in by Mr. Ohl himself. A minute too late, 
another bidder was on the ground, who would have offered more than 
twice that sum. Undoubtedly, both he that bought, and he who failed of 
buying, were under the impression, that what had redeemed the broken 
fortunes of Von Kempelen, and had been a perennial source of golden 
streams for Maelzel, must be a good speculation in the hands of another. 
But this was a great error — Maelzel's "Exhibition" without Maelzel 
was a body without a soul. And in reference to the mysterious Chess- 
player, in particular, it was only in favor of the great mechanician, 
that the public resolutely persisted in refusing to know a secret, which 

* I express myself according to what appears to be the truth of the case. 
But I may perhaps be really unjust to Maelzel if I do not state, on the other 
hand, what I have heard from many quarters, viz : that during several years, 
his funds were deposited here, under the charge of Mr. Willig ; that at one 
time he had in bank over twenty thousand dollars ; that afterwards, when 
Mr. Willig's age made him reluctant to take charge of any affairs but his own, 
Maelzel transferred his funds to other hands — here or elsewhere — whether for 
depovsit or investment ; and tliat, although such funds were not forthcoming 
to meet Mr. Obi's claims, they may not have been wasted by Maelzel. Some 
inquiry after this deposit or investment was afterwards made on behalf of a 
brother of Maelzel's, hving in Vienna — I know not with what result. 



478 Incidents in the History of 

had been exposed and published a dozen times. Mr. Ohl, therefore, to 
his great surprise, no doubt, was not for a moment disturbed in the 
possession of his treasure by the offers of any speculating exhibitor, 
and may have often regretted that the sale had not been opened by 
some other article, or that the rival bidder had not come on the ground 
a little sooner. 

While the Turk was thus lying in the storehouse of Mr. Ohl, con- 
signed, in piteous dismemberment, to a tomb of five packing-boxes, 
Mr. Greorge Walker indited his history for Fraser's Magazine^ and 
denied to him — what Charles Lamb had claimed for his Blahesmoor — all 
right to utter his Resurgam, But Mr. Walker was so far mistaken, 
that the Automaton did ^^rise again," although only — as would appear 
— that he might finally " vanish into space " by a process more glorious 
than that of slow decay. For his rescue from that ignominious fate, to 
which he appeared to have been hopelessly condemned, and for his 
restoration to the integrity of his form, in order to the sublime con- 
summation, which was reserved for him, our hero was indebted to the 
curiosity and mechanical ingenuity, the enterprise and the popularity, of 
a very remarkable professional gentleman, whose loss is still fresh in the 
memory of a large circle of devoted friends — the late Dr. John Kearsley 
Mitchell, Professor in the Jefferson College of Medicine. This skilful 
and learned physician was as far as possible from being one of those 
who achieve professional success by dint of plodding industry exerted 
in one direction alone. A Scotchman by descent, a Yirginian by birth 
— uniting acuteness and strength of mind with a delightful enthusiasm 
of character — a naturalist, a mechanician, a poet — he had the readiest 
intellectual sympathy with every operation of original power, no matter 
in what sphere it might exert itself. Whether it were a surgical 
operation or a sermon, Mr. Webster making a speech or Ole Bull play- 
ing a violin solo, Mr. Hobbs picking a lock or Mr. Earey taming a zebra, 
the attraction might have been nearly the same for Dr. Mitchell. How 
keenly the interest of such a man must have been excited by the pro- 
ductions of mechanical genius exhibited by Maelzel may be readily 
guessed ; but, with his imaginative turn of mind, nothing could have 
put him under a more irresistible fascination than the mystery that 
hung around the impenetrable creation of Yon Kempelen. He appears 
to have cultivated, to a certain exfent, the acquaintance of Maelzel — as 
others of our men of science and ingenuity had done — and he had been, 
it is to be presumed, just as successful as others in getting from him 
anything to relieve their curiosity. The newspaper translations of 



American Chess. 479 

De Tournay's article could not work perfect conviction in his mind. 
Who could tell whether Mouret had not earned his money, and pre- 
served his honor (in some sort), by teUing what only looked like, but 
in fact was not, the real secret? There could obviously be no satisfac- 
tory, final test, but that of the actual inspection of the mechanism itself. 
To secure this object. Dr. Mitchell resolved to get possession of the 
Automaton. Finding that Mr. Ohl — after a year and more had passed 
by without any offer — would now gladly part with it for the sum at 
which he had himself bid it in, Dr. Mitchell immediately took it off hi^ 
hands for four hundred dollars. Having in view no plan of getting back 
his money, or making a speculation, and being by no means capable of 
such folly as to pay so large a sum for the mere gratification of his 
curiosity, he had, from the beginning, formed a very sensible plan for 
securing his object without taxing himself, or those who shared his 
curiosity with him, at any unreasonable rate. The plan was to make 
the Automaton the property of a club. Each member was to subscribe 
either ten or five dollars, and thereby become a joint-owner of the 
Automaton, and a joint-depositary of its secret, when discovered. These 
sums were certainly not too much to pay for what had cost Eugene 
Beauharnois thirty thousand francs ; and the contrivance for preserving 
the secret from being lost was as ingenious as it was considerate for 
posterity : — with nearly seventy-five depositaries, most of whom would 
have the assistance of wives in their difficult task, there was but little 
danger, that the calamity would ever occur of both the Automaton 
itself and authentic witnesses of its mystery having all perished together. 
The plan was carried out with entire success. Many subscribed their 
entrance-fee to the club, because they wished at the same time to know 
the secret and to please the amiable Dr. Mitchell ; others because they 
wished to please Dr. Mitchell, without caring to know the secret ; and 
some few — as in all voluntary subscriptions— subscribed because they 
could not refuse. In this way a sum was raised, large enough to pay 
for the Automaton and to cover the expense of getting it into working 
order. 

When the five boxes, wherein the dismembered Turk had been 
packed away — whether here or at Havana — had been transferred to 
the office of Dr. Mitchell, and then eagerly opened, a perfect chaos was 
disclosed; and the work of restoring the mechanism to its pristine inte- 
grity and efficiency was found to be no slight one. Not only had frag- 
ments of other parts of the exhibition — such as the knightly Carousel — 
been put into these five boxes, but parts of the Automaton itself had to 



480 Incidents in the History of 

be searched for in other boxes, still in the possession of Mr. Ohl. With 
the help of Willis's drawings in the Boston pamphlet — of the Pdlainede 
article, as found in our city newspapers — of the plates in Racknitz's 
book (which somebody here happened to own), and of suggestions from 
ingenious friends, Dr. Mitchell succeeded, at last, in perfecting the dis- 
covery of the secret, and of proving his discovery to be true by the test 
of actual demonstration.* These pleasant labors of restoration had 

* A description of what Dr. Mitchell then discovered to be the interior 
construction of the Automaton, with the processes of the Exhibitor and 
Director, was taken down from his lips nearly twenty years afterwards, and 
communicated to the first volume of the Chess Monthly, No provision having 
been made for illustrating my History by engravings, I have thought it 
useless to do anything more than to refer the reader to the article in ques- 
tion. It is hardly right do so, however, without saying, that in one important 
point, Dr. Mitchell was certainly mistaken, i The Exhibitor did not open all 
of the front doors at once, nor was the Director, at the moment when the 
opening of the doors began, in the smaller compartment. It is clear from 
various accounts (those of Windisch, Racknitz, and the Monthly Review ^ com- 
pared with that of Willis), that both Kempelen and Maelzel always pursued 
the same routine, viz. they first opened the door of the smaller compartment, 
and then held the candle at the little window in the rear, while the Director 
sat in the larger compartment. Next the drawer was pulled out; then the 
two doors of the larger compartment were opened — the director having slid 
into the smaller compartment, while the exhibitor was coming deliberately 
around to the front again, and pulling out the drawer. Dr. Mitchell says, 
that the doors were all shut, before the machine was turned about to show 
the back, and that it was after the doors had been closed, and after the 
machine had been turned round, that the Director slid from the one compart- 
ment into the other. Both of these statements are incorrect. The Director 
shifted his position, while the machine was still facing the spectators; and 
while the machine was wheeling round, on its castors, the front doors were 
all flying loosely about. The proceedmg described by Dr. Mitchell would 
have seriously weakened the demonstration, that there was no man inside ; 
while the sublime effrontery of the actual process was a Q. E. D. that left not 
a word to say. — I may add, that in another place, by a mere misprint, the 
player's knees are said to ^fill up ' — it should have been ' lift up ' — the floor. 
— In justice to Kempelen, I ought to make the following explanation. Dr. 
Mitchell says, that Kempelen did not conceal his player in the simple but 
wonderfully ingenious way, that made the glory of the Automaton in Mael- 
zel's time, but made him lie at length behind the drawer, and could therefore 
have nobody but a dwarf or very short man (less than four feet) for a Direc- 



American Chess. 481 

occupied Dr. Mitchell's intermissions of professional duty during the 
summer of 1840. Early in the autumn, he was prepared to invite the 
members of the club to his office, and to exhibit to them the construc- 
tion of the Automaton, and its mode of operation. He himself did not 
disdain to enter the mysterious chest — as Eugene Napoleon had done 
before him — to conceal his own portly person first in one compartment, 
then in the other, and finally, after pulling this string for the eyes and 
that for the head, to work the pentagraph-handle, which effected the 
moves on the board above. Private exhibitions to the famihes of the 
shareholders and other friends followed. Mr. Kummer, whom I have 
had occasion to mention before, was first called in to act as Director 
during these exhibitions ; but, after a short time, the seat of Schlumberger 
came to be occupied by my friend, Mr. Lloyd P. Smith, at this moment 
the accomplished and courteous Librarian of the " Philadelphia Library 
company." At that time a mere youth, he had already acquired some 
reputation as a promising Chess-player. His father, being one of the 
shareholders, took him with him, one day, to Dr. Mitchell's office, and 
had him initiated into a knowledge of the great secret — a privilege 
which had no longer any need of being expensive, now that the affair 
had been paid for. From the vivid excitement of his imagination, 
under the influence of a discovery to him so surprising, it was a natural 
step to desire to be himself the hidden agent in the delightful work of 

tor. There is not the slightest foundation for this injustice done to the 
genius of Kempelen — an injustice perfectly innocent, however, on the part 
of Dr. Mitchell. The case was this. A friend lent Dr. Mitchell Racknitz's 
pamphlet, with its seven plates. Not reading Grerman at all, Dr. Mitchell 
supposed these plates to be bona fide representations of Kempelen' s Automaton, 
whereas ihey really were drawings of an Automaton of Racknitz's own, 
which he had constructed in order to demonstrate, that Kempelen's might be 
worked by a man inside. Now Racknitz, who guessed so perfectly the true 
way of becoming acquainted with the adversary's moves, failed entirely in 
guessing the manner of concealing the player. He hid his player behind the 
drawer, and made him figure accordingly in Plate lY, where Dr. Mitchell 
saw him, and took him for a director of Herr von Kempelen's. — The remains 
of a telegraph, which Dr. Mitchell saw, without being able to guess how it 
was used, was an apparatus for a part of Kempelen's exhibition, described by 

i Windisch, viz. the Automaton's answering questions by making words out 
of an alphabet spread out before him. Maelzel never exhibited this feat in 

I public, because it gave, quite unnecessarily, an additional opening to the dis- 

'' covery of his secret. 

21 



482 Incidents in the History of 

mystification. No offer could be more acceptable to Dr. Mitchell ; and 
young Lloyd was presently instructed in all that was necessary for his 
new office. 

An exhibition or two of this kind, in one's own private rooms, may 
be very amusing indeed, but a series of them — at the appointment or 
request of others— is rather too much. It was soon quite desirable to 
have the club of shareholders decide what should be the ultimate dis- 
position of their property. At that time, the fine building in Ninth 
Street below Chestnut, erected for the reception of the accumulated 
curiosities of the ingenious Mr. Willson Peale, still contained (I believe), 
in its lower hall, the very interesting collection formed in China by Mr. 
Dunn, and thus came to be known as the " Chinese Museum." The 
stockholders decided to deposit the Automaton in this building. Thither 
accordingly it was removed, after having been exposed, for a short time 
— but without (I believe) any demonstration of its powers — in the 
Annual Exhibition of the Franklin Institute. But the Turk, although 
now in a fair way, as it seemed, of being finally released from service, 
after so many years of wandering, was required to appear once more 
in public, and in no very dignified attitude — before the title of emeritus 
could be conceded to him. The ofi&ce of Director was too exciting and 
amusing to young Smith to be parted with so abruptly. It was 
accordingly arranged between himself and the late Mr. McGruigan, the 
popular superintendent of the estabUshment, to give a few public exhi- 
bitions of the Automaton in the Chinese Museum. The public were, 
therefore, solemnly informed by advertisement, that " although public 
curiosity had been partially gratified with the interesting piece of 
mechanism, its mystery had never yet been solved ;" and on the 23rd 
of November, and four or five other evenings, durmg the following six u 
weeks, young Smith had the pleasure of directing the operations of the j 
Automaton to small audiences. One occurrence of that last exhibition- | 
season was not only quite an event in a young man's life, but also a I 
curious testimony to the simple perfection of the Hungarian's mechan- 
ism. At that time, we had here the very fashionable and very excel- 
lent young ladies' school of the late M. Picot. As Dr. Mitchell was I 
physician in ordinary to the school, it occurred to him to invite all the f 
pupils in a body to attend one of the exhibitions of the Automaton at 
the Chinese Museum. The kind-hearted Doctor, as forward to please 11 
the young as was even Maelzel himself, dispensed — in favor of the! 
dear school-girls — with all the formalities of the silken cord and othej | 
noli me tangere securities, and turned the whole beautiful bevy at once I 






American Chess. 483 



into the space usually monopolised by the solemn Turk. While he 
proceeded to open door after door, and to hold a candle to the little 
windows in the rear, the curious young people were allowed to crowd 
as closely around as they pleased, and to use eyes and hands at dis- 
cretion ; but with all their looking and searching, they did not discover 
the slightest trace of the wicked youth, who was sitting comfortably 
in his '' second position" — with his limbs elongated under the floor, and 
a green baize door in front — coolly using his eye-glass to scrutinise the 
unconscious little beauties through certain narrow apertures in the 
partition between the two compartments. 

These rather childish exhibitions over, the Automaton — like Scott 
retiring with a moriturus vos saluto from public life — withdrew to a 
private corner, near an unfrequented staircase, and from henceforth 
looked calmly through the glazed partition, that separated him from the 
world, without being disturbed by any further molestation. Such interest, 
in fact, as had been re-excited after Maelzel's death, had been either 
absolutely factitious or confined to a very narrow circle : — it had not 
sufficed to create any further demand on the part of the public, or to 
elicit any offers from any speculating exhibitor. Of the countless 
visitors of the Chinese Museum few ever inquired for, few ever saw, the 
forgotten Automaton. I do not remember ever to have heard of its 
being where it was, until I heard of its destruction. 

Fourteen years after the Automaton had been thus deposited in the 
Chinese Museum, early in the night of the 5th of July, 1854, a fire 
broke out in the National Theatre, at the corner of Ninth and Chestnut 
street. It extended rapidly through the adjoining buildings to the 
east ; it threw sheets of flame across Chestnut street upon the Girard 
House, to the north ; and, on the south, soon enveloped the Chinese 
Museum, which was separated from the burning theatre by only a 
narrow alley. There was plenty of time to have rescued the Chess- 
player, if anybody had thought of it. But all interest in what had 
drawn crowds to Maelzel's Hall, a quarter of a century before, had now 
so completely died away, that the city newspapers, while devoting 
columns to the havoc made in bricks and mortar, in the frippery of the 
theatre, and the insured stock of shopkeepers, had not a word to give 
to the annihilation of a piece of mechanism historically more curious 
than any other the world has ever seen. 

It can hardly be regretted, I imagine, that the Automaton Chess- 
player should have been destroyed as it was. Better, to the feeling of 
its admirers, a subhme departure, in the midst of a vast conflagration, 



484 Incidents in the History of 

than slow decay in an obscure lumber-room. Such, at least, is the 

feelinof of its American historian, as he draws his narrative to a close ; 

. . . > 

and such, I may venture to conjecture, is that of him to whom that 4 

narrative is addressed with every sentiment of respect and admhatiou. 

a. A. 

Philadelphia, May 18th, 1859. 



POSTSCRIPT. 

In the hope that among the readers of the preceding sketch may be 
some who will feel interested, and have it in their power, to make such 
researches in the newspapers of the time, or into the traditions of theiii 
respective residences, as will fill up the wide chasms which I have been 
obhged to leave in my itinerary, and supply many interesting anec- 
dotes unknown to me, I subjoin a mere skeleton of my own dates. 
From this it will be easy to see for what periods, chiefly, further re- 
searches are desirable. Any such contributions to the future completior 
of my sketch will be thankfully received. 
No. 215 S.lTth Street. 

1826.— April 3— July 5, New York. Sept. 12— Oct. 28, Boston: 
Dec. 26, opens at Philadelphia. 

1827. March 20, closes in Philadelphia. April 30— June 2; Oct. i 
— ^Nov. 16, Baltimore. 

1828.— Jan. 5— April 19, Philadelphia. June 4— Oct. 3, Boston 
Yisit to Europe. 

1829. — May 18, begins to exhibit in New York. 

1830.— May 24, closes in New York. Sept. 30— Dec. 1, Philadelphia 

1831.— Sept. 13— Nov. 18, Philadelphia. i 

1832.— May 14— July 5, New York. 

1833.— May 27— Aug. 23, Boston. 

1834.— March 18— May 31, Philadelphia. Aug. 21, Sept. 15, Sept 
20, licenses at Eichmond. Charleston after Nov. 30. 

1835. — (New York papers, for the latter half of this year, not exa 
mined.) Dec. 10, license at Richmond. Nov. 27, opens at Washingtor 

1836. — Jan. 6, hcense at Richmond. Jan. 16, closes at Washingtor 
April 25 — June 25, Philadelphia. September or October, at Pittsburg 
Cincinnati, and New Orleans. Embarkation for Havana (?). 

1837 — 38. Dates of exhibition at Havana (?). 



American Chess. 485 



XI. AMERICAN CHESS BIBLIOaRAPHY. 

The following list of works, written or reprinted in the United States, 
forms, if I am not mistaken, the first complete catalogue of the pro- 
ductions of our chess press. In perusing it, the reader will notice that 
although a large portion of the titles consists of books previously pub- 
lished in England, yet there are to be found several original additions 
of importance to the literature of the game. These lie chiefly in the 
departments of practical chess, of chess biography, and of chess serials. 
' I have arranged the titles chronologically. 

I. 

Critical Remarhs upon the ''^Letter to the Craftsman on the Game 
of Chess^ occasioned hy his Paper of the 16th of September ^ 1733, and 
dated from Slaughter' s Coffe e -House, Sept 21." MS. Ne w 
York, 1734. 

This work, as has been stated, in a full description of it given in pre- 
ceding pages, was written by the Eeverend Lewis Rou, a Huguenot 
clergyman, in the city of New York. It exists complete only in the 
form of a manuscript. 

II. 

The Morals of Chess. By Dr. Benjamin Franklin. 

This essay, although it has been widely published, has never appeared 
in a separate form. The earliest work in which I have been able to 
discovei it, is the first part (pages 141-148) of the collection of chess 
anecdotes by Twiss, which saw the light in 1787. Twiss introduces it 
with the following remark : '' For the following pages, I am indebted 
to the author of the Life of Dr. Young.'' The author of Young's life 
was Mr. H. Croft. In Twiss the essay lacks the first or introductory 
paragraph, which reads as follows : 

Playing at chess is the most ancient and most universal game among men ; 
hr its origin is beyond the memory of history, and it has, for numberless 
iges, been the amusement of all the civihzed nations of Asia, the Persians, 
ihe Indians, and the Chinese. Europe has had it above a thousand years ; 
;he Spaniards have spread it over their part of America, and it begins lately 



486 Incidents in the History of 

to make its appearance in these States. It is so interesting in itself, as not 
to need the view of gain to induce engaging in it ; and thence it is never 
played for money. Those, therefore, who have leisure for such diversions, 
cannot find one that is more innocent ; and the following piece, written with 
a view to correct (among a few young friends) some little improprieties in the 
practice of it, shows, at the same time, that it may, in its effects on the mind^ 
be not merely innocent, but advantageous, to the vanquished as well as the 
victor. 

In reprinting the essay, this is often omitted. Twiss also appends 
an additional paragraph from the pen of Croft, commencing: ''When 
a player is guilty of an untruth to cover his disgrace," etc., v^^hich is 
often given in later works as Dr. Franklin's own. The essay has been 
published many times. It is to be found in Sparks' collection of Frank- 
lin's writings, in the Massachusetts Magazine (July 1791, vol. iii. pp. 
431-433), in the American Museum (April, 1792, i. pp. 133-135), in the 
Monthly Magazine (September, 1804), in various treatises on the game / 
of chess, and in many periodicals both foreign and domestic. It has ; 
been translated into French and Itahan. But a good edition, illustrated 
with critical and bibliographical notes, and prefaced by a full account of ' 
Franklin's chess deeds and chess sayings, is still a desideratum. 

III. 

Chess made Easy. New and comprehensive Rules for Playing the 
Game of Ohess, with Examples from Philidor^ Cunningham^ c&c, &c. 
To which is prefixed a pleasing Account of its Origin ; some interesting 
Anecdotes of several exalted personages who have been admirers of it; 
and the Mor als of Chess ^ ivritten hy the ingeriious and learned 
Dr, Franklin. 

This Game an Indian Brahmin did invent, 

The force of Eastern wisdom to express ; 

From thence the same to busy Europe sent. 

The modern Lombards stil'd it pensive Chess. 

Denham. 

Philadelphia^ printed and sold hy James Humphreys^ at th 
corner of Walnut and Dock- Streets^ 1802. 12mo. pp. 97. 

This little volume is the first separately printed chess work issuec 
from the American press. It is an exact copy of a book bearing thCj 
same title which was published in London, by Symonds, in 1796 (anc 



J 



American Chess. 487 

in 1803), and of which brief critical notices may be seen in the Analyti- 
cal Review (xxvii. pp. 433-434) and in the Monthly Review (xxviii. p. 
478). The compiler's name is nowhere mentioned. Its contents are 
as follows : Advertisement ; extract from the Analytical Review ; 
Origin of the Game of Chess (said in the advertisement to be written 
by Fa vet, a Frenchman, undoubtedly a misprint for Freret) ; Anecdotes 
of the Game of Chess ; the Morals of Chess ; moves of the pieces and 
rules for playing ; the laws of the Game ; and a few games from Phi- 
lidor, in which the Cunningham Gambit occupies nearly half the space. 
An engraved frontispiece represents the board, and above it are the 
figures of the pieces and pawns. The typographical execution of the 
volume is very neat, and it is, probably, in this respect, a close imitation 
of the English original. 

lY. 

The Elements of Chess ; a treatise combining Theory with Practice^ and 
comprising the whole of Philidor's Games, and explanatory notes, new 
modelled ; and arranged upon an original plan. Boston, printed 
for W. Pelham, No. 59 Cornhill. 1805. 8vo. pp. 208. 

This work was probably edited by William Blagrove, a nephew of 
the publisher, and an enthusiastic amateur. Its contents are : pp. 1 -6, 
advertisement ; pp. 7-14, description of the pieces and chess terms ; pp. 
15-21, remarks on the theory of chess, and the laws ; pp. 22-156, games 
from Philidor; pp. 157-165 positions of the pieces in Philidor's un- 
finished games; pp. 166-200, nine of Philidor's blindfold games; pp. 
200-208 appendix. The notation employed is that of the numerals, a 1, 
(White Queen's Rook's square) being 1, a 2 being 2, and so on to h 8 
(Black King's Rook's square) which is 64. The frontispiece is a 
folding sheet with two engravings ; one of the board and men arranged 
for play, the other, a diagram illustrative of the notation. The work 
is a vast improvement on the preceding title. It is printed by Munroe 
& Francis. 

In the appendix the editor proposes a complete revolution in the 
nomenclature of the game. After some remarks on the unsuitableness 
of the names of the pieces, he says : " Impressed with a strong desire 
to see an amusement of such antiquity, of such fascinating attractions, 
freed from every incumbrance, the writer of these remarks proposes 
in the following sketch to substitute other names more expressive of 
the respective powers of the pieces ; more suitable to the dignity of 



488 



Incidents in the History of 



the game ; more descriptive of the mihtary character ; and better 
adapted to our feeUngs as citizens of a free repubhc." He then gives 
a scheme of the change which he advocates, thus : 



Old Names. 
King 
Queen 

King's Rook 
King's Bishop 
King's Knight 
Queen s Rook 
Queen's Bishop 
Queen's Knight 
Pawn . 



New Names, 
Grovernor. 
General. 
First Colonel. 
First Major. 
First Captain. 
Second Colonel. 
Second Major. 
Second Captain. 
Pioneer. 



Philidor's first game is next given " to show the effect of the new 
moves." Such expressions as " Fifth Pioneer at 36 ;" '^ Third Pioneer 
takes the Greneral;" ^' Major covers the check at 52," and " Grovernor 
castles," present a strange appearance to the eye of the chess-player. 
Nor is this feeling diminished by the perusal of such notes as this : 
''You advance this Pioneer two squares to obstruct your adversary's 
first Colonel in his intended attack on your sixth Pioneer." 



Y.* 

An Easy Introduction to the Game of Chess j containing one hundred 
Examples of Games, and a great Variety of Critical Situations and 
Conclusions ; including the whole of Philidor^s Analysis^ with copious 
Selections from Stamma^ the Calabrois^ &c. Arranged on a New 
Plan, with Instructions for Learners ; rendering a complete knowledge 
of that scientific Game perfectly easy of attainment. To which are 
added Caissa : a Poem, by Sir William Jones ; the Morals of Chess, 
by Dr. Franklin; Chess and Whist Compared; Anecdotes respecting 

* It is scarcely necessary to notice here a book bearing the following 
title : 

Analyse du Jeu des 6checs. Par Philidor Nouvelle Edition. . . 

Philadelphie: chez J. Johnston, libraire-editeur. Imprimerie de Lafour- 
carde. 1821. 12mo. pp. 150. 

The paper, typography, and general appearance of the work prove it to 
have been printed in Europe, and probably in Belgium. 



American Chess. 489 

Chess and Chess Players^ dec. Philadelphia: published by IL 
C. Gary and I. Lea^ and Abraham Small, Jesper Harding^ Printer. 
1824, 127710. pp. 267. 

This was first published, I believe, in London, by Ogilvie in 1806 (2 
vols. 12mo.) Editions in one volume afterwards appeared in 1809, 1813, 
1819, and at other times. The name of the compiler has never been 
made public. The miscellaneous collection of anecdotes, essays, and 
poems at the end is not without interest. The openings and games 
are all in the numerical notation (1 to 64), and no diagrams are given. 

YI. 

Analysis of the Game of Chess^ by A. D. Philidor. Illustrated by 
Diagrams^ on which are marked the Situation of the Party for the 
Back- Games and Ends of Parties : with Critical Remarks and Notes 
by the Author of the ^^ Stratagems of Chess."" Translated 
from the last French edition^ and further illustfated with Notes ^ by W. 
S. Kenny, Author of ^^ Practical Chess Gr ammar ^^^ 
^^ Chess Exercises j^ &c. To which is annexed ^^ Franklin's 
Morals of Chess '"^ and a ^^ Practical Description of the Game^^ &c. 
Boston: Samuel H. Parker^ 164 Washington Street^ 1826. 12mo. 
pp. 252. 

This is a reprint of an English book which appeared at London in 
1819, and again, in a second edition, in 1824. It is a translation of 
Montigny's edition of Philidor, which, since 1803 (the date of the first 
impression), has been many times reproduced in France. The moves 
throughout the book ^re written out at full length, thus: ''King's 
Bishop's Pawn, two squares." Forty-one diagrams, engraved on wood, 
are inserted in the text. An edition of one thousand copies was 
printed, but by a fire, which occurred in Boston the year following its 
appearance, the unsold portion of the edition, together with the plates 
and cuts, suffered a tot^-l destruction. 

VII. 

Elements of the Game of Chess, or a New Method of Instruction in that 
celebrated Game, founded on Scientific Principles: containing nume- 
rous General Rules, Remarks, and Examples, by means of which, con- 
siderable skill in the Game may be acquired^ in a comparatively short 

21* 



490 Incidents in the History of 

time. The whole written expressly for the Use of Beginners^ hy Wil- 
liam Lewis, Teacher of Chess, and Author and Editor of several pulli- 
cations on the Game. Revised and corrected hy an American Amateur. 
Ne w York: G. & C. Carvill, Broadivay, 1827. 12mo. pp. 275. 

Lewis published this book in London as early as 1818. The reprint 
is preceded by a brief advertisement, and at the end (pages 269-275) 
the American editor has added a code of Kevised Laws, which had 
been sanctioned by the New York Club. 

YIIL 

The Games of the Match at Chess, played hy the London and Edinhurgh 
Chess Oluhsj in 1824, 1825, 1826, 1827, and 1828. Also three 
Games {played at the same time) hy Mr. Philidor hlindfolded, with 
Count Bruhl, Mr. Bowdler, and Mr. Maseres. Also the Game played 
hy a Lady of Philadelphia with MaelzeVs Automaton. Ne w Yo rk: 
printed for the Puhlisher, hy A. Ming, Jr., 106 Beekman St. 1830, 
8vo. pp. 8. 

In spite of its long title this is only an unimportant brochure. The 
title covers the first page ; the second is devoted to a brief account of 
the Edinburgh-London Match ; pages three to seven are filled with the 
games mentioned above, in the numerical notation : the last page is de- 
voted to the well-known anecdote concerning the Persian player and 
his wife, to the position erroneously styled Philidor^s Legacy, to a 
Knight's Tour, and to an explanation of the notation. 

IX. 

The Chess-Players ; a Drawing hy Moritz Retzsch, explained accord- 
ing to hints from himself, hy C. Borr. von Miltitz, with additional 
Remarks on the Allegory. Re-puhlished for the Warren Street Chapel. 
Boston: Weeks, Jordan & Co., No. 121 Washington Street. 1837. 

Having never seen this reprint of the celebrated outlines by Retzsch, 
I cannot answer for the correctness of the title. The additions to the 
remarks by von Miltitz are, I understand, very slight and unimportant. 

X. 

Chess Made Easy : heing a New Introduction to the Rudiments of that 



American Chess. 491 

Scientific and Popular Game. By George Walker, Teacher of 
Chess. Baltimore: Published hy Bayly & Burns. S. French^ 
Printer^ 1837. 12mo. pp. 94. 

This little work, by the voluminous Walker, made its first appearance 
at London in the same year.* 

XI. 

Chess Made Easy : being a New Introduction to the Rudiments of that 
Scientific and Popular Game. By George Walker, Teacher of 
Chess. Baltimore: Published by Joseph Neal^ No. 174 Baltimore 
Street^ 1839. 24mo. pp. 124. 

This is another reprint of Walker's treatise for beginnners, 

XII. 

The Chess- Play &r J illustrated with Engravings and Diagrams ; contain- 
ing Franklin's Essay on the Morals of Chess ; Introduction to the Rudi- 
ments of Chess J by George Walker, Teacher ; to which are added 
the Three Games played at one and the same time by Philidor ; Sixty 
Openings^ Mates^ and Situations^ by W. S. Kenny, Teacher^ with 
Remarks^ Anecdotes^ etc, etc.^ and an Explanation of the Round Chess- 
Board. Boston: Published by Nathl. Dearborn^ 1841. Vlmo. pp. 
155. 

This loosely-compiled volume contains, after Franklin's essay, first. 
Walker's Chess Made Easy (pp. 13-115) : then Philidor's games with 
Conway, Sheldon, and Smith (pp. 116-123) ; then a few brief games 
and positions (pp. 124-142) ; and, lastly, the round Chess, and a few 
anecdotes (pp. 133-155). 

XIII. 

The Chess- Player's Hand- Book ; containing a full account of the Game 
of Chess J and the best mode of playing it. Boston: Published by 
Saxionj Pierce & Co., 133|- Washington Street, 1844. ^imo. pp. 67. 

An unpretending little book, first published, I think, by Routledge 
of London. 

* I do not know whether the reprint mentioned by "Walker (A New Trea- 
tise on Chess, 1841, p. 291), *'by Carey & Hart. Philadelphia, 1837," ever 
really existed or not. I have never seen it. Schmid (p. 358) copies Walker's 
title. 



492 Incidents in the History of 



XIY. 

Rules for playing the Game of Chess for four Persons, Ne w To rk: 
T. J. Orowenj corner of Bleecher St. and Broadway, 1845. 12mo, 
pp. 8. 

Reprinted from an unimportant and anonymous English original. 



XV. 

Thirty-one Games at ChesSj comprising the whole Number of Games 
played in a Match between Mr. Eugene Rousseau of New Orleans^ and 
Mr. O. H. Stanley J Secretary of the N. Y. Chess Club, With Notes 
as originally reported for the ^New Orleans Commercial Times,^^ By 
Mr. Stanley. The Match commenced at the New Orleans Chess 
* Club, on the 1st Dec.^ 1845, and terminated on the 2Qth Day of the 
same Month. Price fifty Cents, (Ne w Orleans^ 1846.) 16mo. 
pp. 46. 

This extremely rare little pamphlet was printed just before Mr. Stan- 
ley's departure from New Orleans after the close of the Match. Only 
a small edition was published, and very many of the copies were 
suffered to go to waste in the printer's loft. It contains a short intro- 
duction by Mr. Stanley. The G-ames follow immediately after, and are 
accompanied by good notes from the pen of the victor. 

XVI. 

The Chess Palladium and Mathematical Sphinx; devoted to the Curi- 
osities of Chess and the Ingenuities of Arithmetic. Edited by Napoleon 
Marache a7id J. Victor Wilson. New Yo rk: William Taylor & 
Co. 1846. Svo. pp. 70. 

Only three numbers of this Magazine (October, November, Decem- 
ber) were published. After the first number the name of the second 
editor was withdrawn and the other issues were edited solely by Mr. 
Marache. The chess matter consists of short extracts from various 
authors, a few games, and a large number of problems and enigmas. 
The first and second pages of the cover are filled with mathematical 
problems in verse. 



American Chess. 493 



XYII. 

The American Chess Magazine: a periodical Organ of Communication 
for American Chess- Players, For the Arbitration of disputed Points 
and doubtful Questions arising in the Study and Practice of the Game 
of Chess. For the Instruction of Young Players^ and the Amusement 
of All. Edited by Charles H. Stanley, New York: R. Martin^ 
Puhlisherj 1847. 8vo. pp. viii + 268. 

The American Chess Magazine was issued Monthly and continued 
only from October 1846 to September 1847. The typography is excel- 
lent and the matter valuable. The contents comprise fourteen Lessons 
for Learners by Mr. Stanley, seventy-five games, of which more than 
two-thirds are American, and a number of literary and historical essays. 
Eight diagrams, each occupying a page, appeared with every number, 
and these ninety-six problems are usually found at the end of the vol- 
ume. They are not paged. Among the players whose contests adorn 
the volume are Stanley, Yezin, Hammond, Schulten, Thompson, Rous- 
seau, Raphael, Ballard, and Dudley. Among the composers who con- 
tributed stratagems, were Stanley, Julien, Agnel, and Leake. 

XYIII. 

The Manual of Chess: containing the elementary Principles of the Game; 
illustrated with numerous Diagrams^ recent Games^ and original Pro- 
blems. By Charles Kenny. New York: D. Appleton & 
Co. 1847. 12mo. pp. 122. 

This is one of several works by a well-known Chess author ; the 
original appeared in London the preceding year; no alterations or addi- 
tions whatever are made in this reprint. 

XIX. 

Chess for Winter Evenings: Containing the Rudiments of the Game^ and 
elementary Analyses of the most Popular Openings^ exemplified in 
Games actually played by the greatest Masters ; including Staunton's 
Analysis of the King^s and Queen^s Gambits^ numerous Positions and 
Problems on Diagrams^ both original and selected; also a Series of 



494 Incidents in the History of 

Chess Tales J with Illustrations enigraved from original Designs. The 
whole extracted and translated from the 'best sources by H. R. Agnel. 
Ne w Yo rh: D, Appleton & Co, 1848. 12mo. pp, xiv + 509. 

This book has enjoyed a wide popularity in America. Its analyses 
are chiefly derived from Staunton, although some new games and many 
problems are added. One or two important openings are entirely 
neglected by the compiler. Scattered through the book are four plea- 
sant Chess sketches, chiefly translated from the Palamede. Each of 
^these stories is illustrated by steel engravings from paintings by Weir. 
Mr. Agnel has been for many years Professor of French and Spanish 
at the United States Military Academy, West-Point 

XX. 

The Chess-Players Hand- Booh ; containing a full Account of the Game 
of Chess J and the best Mode of playing it. By the Author of the Hand- 
Boohs of ^''Etiquette^^^ ^''Conversation^'' ^^The Toilette^^' ^^ Courtship and 
Marriage^^ etc.^ etc. Philadelphia: George S. Appleton, 164 
Chestnut Street. 1850. 16mo. pp. 64. 

A second reprint of title XIII. 

XXI. 

The Booh of Chess: Containing the Rudiments of the Game^ and 
elementary Analyses of the most Popular Openings^ exemplified in 
Games actually played by the greatest Masters; including Staunton s 
Analysis of the King^s and Queen^s Gambits, Numerous Positions and 
Problems on Diagrams, both original and selected; also a Series of 
Chess Tales, with Illustrations engraved from original Designs. The 
whole extracted and translated from the best Sources by H. K. Agnel. 
New Tor h, D. Appleton & Co. 1852. 12ma pp. 509. 

This is only a new impression from the plates of XIX. The slight 
change made in the title was done, as we are told, without the consent 
of the Author. Impressions exist also with the dates 1855 and 1859. 



XXII. 

The Chess- Player's Hand- Booh ; containing a full Account of the Game 






American Chess. 495 

of Chess^ and the test Mode of playing it. By the Author of the Hand- 
Boohs of ^''Etiquette j'' ^''Conversation,'' ^^The Toilette^'' ^^ Courtship and 
Marriage^'' etc.^ etc. New York: Leavitt & Allen, 27 Dey- Street, 
1853. 16mo. pp. 64. 

Another impression from the stereotype plates of title XX. 

XXIII. 

Maxims and Hints for an Angler : emhelUshed with humorous Engravings, 
illiistrative of the Miseries of Fishing. To which are added Hints and 
Maxims for a Chess Flayer. Fhiladelphia: published by F. 
Bell. 1855. 24mo. pp. 60. 

This is a reprint of the first English edition (1833) with the title- 
page altered. The name of the author, Richard Penn, does not appear. 
The dedication also is omitted. 

XXIV. 

The Chess Monthly, an American Chess Serial, edited by Daniel Wil- 
LARD FiSKE, M.A. Volume I. 1857. New To rh : F. Miller & Son, 
13 Thames St. corner of Trinity Flace (1857). Sw. pp. vi + 393. 

The Chess Monthly, an American Chess Serial, edited by Tavl Morphy 
Esq., and Daniel Willard Fiske, M.A. Froblem Department by E. 
B. Cook. Volume II. 1858. New York: W. Miller, No. 49 
Nassau Street (1858). 8vo. pp. vi + 398. 

This Magazine, now in its third year, was originated by the editor 
of the first volume. It has contained original articles by Professor 
George Allen of Philadelphia, and by Lowenthal, Yon der Lasa, Jaenisch, 
and Centurini; it has published original games by Morphy, Mont- 
gomery, Hammond, Lichtenhein, and Paulsen, among American ama- 
teurs, and by Yon der Lasa, Lowenthal, Harrwitz, Staunton, and Dubois 
among European players; and its pages have been illustrated with 
original problems by such American composers as Cook, Loyd, Maraclie, 
Potter, Julien, and Brown, and by such foreign celebrities as Bayer, 
Willmers, Petroff, Healey, Centurini, and White. The problem depart- 
ment has been edited since the beginning of 1858 by Mr. Eugene B. 
Cook of Hoboken, N. J". 



49^ Incidents in the History of 



XXY. 

The Games of the Match at Chess played hy the Chess Players of the 
Athenaeum^ Philadelphia, and the New- York Chess Clvh, between the 
Years 1856 and 1857, with Variations and Remarks hy the Athenaeum 
Committee. Philad elphia, 1857. 8vo. pp. vii + 23. 

This brochure is a reprint from the pages of the Chess Monthly. It 
is dedicated to the memory of the celebrated Philadelphia player, 
Charles Vezin, and the excellent Advertisement prefixed to the book is 
from the pen of Professor Greorge Allen. 

XXVI. 

Prospectus of the National Chess Congress, commencing in New York, 
October 6th, 1857. New York, T. W. Strong, Steam Job Printer, 
70 Ann Street, 1857. 8vo. pp. 13. 

A few copies of this were printed on heavy Paper. In connection 
with the Congress a few circulars on note paper were also printed. 



XXYII. 

Games of Chess, and Chess Problems — Issued for the Convenience of 
Amateurs by Thomas Frere. For sale by T. W, Strong, 98 Nassau 
Street, New York; (1857) 12mo. 

This is a volume containing one hundred blanks with the moves 
numbered from 1 to 60 for the purpose of recording games, and the 
same number of blank diagrams for copying positions or problems. 



XXYIII. 

A New Method of Chess Notation, by John Bartlett. Cambridge, 
December, 1857. Fol. pp. 3. 

The chief contents of this sheet are either given or described in pages 
137-139 of this volume. 



American Chess. 497 



XXIX. 

The Life of Philidor^ Musician and Chess- Player, By Gteorge Allen, 
Member of the American Philosophical Society ^ Greek Professor in the 
U7iiversity of Pennsylvania, 

Aux Frangais etonnes de sa male harmonie 

II montra dans son art des prodiges nouveaux ; 

Dans ses delassemens admirant son genie 

On voit qu'en ses jeux meme il n'a point de rivaux. 

Philadelphia: 1858. 8vo. pp. viii + 56. 

This interesting and valuable work was privately printed, fifty copies 
only having been struck off. It first appeared in the pages of the Chess 
Monthly, and is the only complete life of the great French master which 
has ever been written. The bibliography at the end is especially accu- 
rate. A new and enlarged edition is now in the hands of the pub- 
lisher. 

XXX. 

Pules and Pegukttions of the New York Chess Club. Adopted June 
IQth, 1858. New York: T. W. Strong, Steam Printer, 98 Nassau 
Street, 1858. 24mo. pp. 24. 

On the leaf following the title-page we have the list of officers for 
1858-9; then come (pp. 5-9) the Rules and Regulations for the 
government of the Club; and finally The Laws of Chess as adopted 
for the guidance of the members. These last were based upon the 
codes of Yon der Lasa and Jaenisch, and were translated and written 
out by the writer of this article. 

XXXI. 

Frere^s Chess Hand- Book. Containing elementary Instruction and the 
Laws of Chess^ together with fifty select Games by the first Players. 
Endings of Games. And the Defeat of the Muzio Gambit. Also, 
thirty-one of the choicest Chess Problems, and a Description of, and 
Pules for four-handed Chess. By Thomas Frere. Ne w Yo r k : 
T W. Strong, 98 Nassau Street, 1858. 12mo. xii + (229-334). 

The curious paging of this little volume is owing to the fact that it 



498 Incidents in the History of 

was originally printed as a part of an edition of Hoyle^s Games, There 
is little or no analysis in it, but its games are very well selected. 

XXXII. 

Bulletin of the American Chess Association^ Number L Jan.- June 1858. 
{New York, 1858.) 8m 

The second number of this half-yearly publication has not yet been 
issued. 

XXXIII. 

The Chess Player'' s Instructor ; or. Guide to Beginners ; containing aU 
the Information necessary to acquire a Knowledge of the Game : with 
Diagrams illustrative of the various movements of the Pieces, By 
Charles Henry Stanley. Ne w Yo r h : Robert M. De Witt, Pub- 
lisher, 160 & 162 Nassau Street. (1859.) \2mo. pp. iv + 72. 

This clever little elementary manual is from the pen of a gentleman 
long known to the American Chess world as a pleasant writer and a 
very strong player. It contains several diagrams, and concludes with 
eleven well selected games. 

XXXIY. 

The Chess Handbook : teaching the Rudiments of the Game, and giving 
an Analysis of all the recognized Openings. Exemplified by appro- 
priate Games actually played by Morphy, Harrwitz, Anderssen, Staun- 
ton, Paulsen, Montgomery, Meek, and many others. By an Amateur, 
Philadelphia : published by E. H. Butler & Co. 1859, 16m(?, 
pp. 256. 

This appears to be a clever abridgement from the English Handbook^ 
which the Editor of the book himself styles *' the basis of his work." 
The illustrative games, however, are newly, and, in the main, carefully 
selected. We are not told who composed the dozen problems on dia- 
grams which are inserted at the end of the volume. 

XXXY. 

Morphy^ s Games of Chess, and Frere's Problem Tournament By Thos. 



American Chess. 499 

Frere. New York: T. W. Strong, 98 Nassau-street. 1859. 
12 mo. pp, 144. 

The second part of this book contains many clever problems selected 
from those which competed in a tournament arranged by Mr. Frere, 
the chess-editor of Frank Leslies Illustrated Newspaper, The first part 
was published without the sanction or approval of Mr. Morphy, and 
comprises games with notes copied from the Chess Monthly, The Era, 
and other sources, without any special acknowledgment. The collec- 
tion was evidently hurriedly and incompetently made to take advan- 
tage of the demand created by Mr. Morphy's success in Europe. 

XXXYI. 

Science and Art of Chess. By J. Monroe, B. CIu 

Les jeux meriteraient d'etre examines ; et I'on y trouveraient beaucoup 
dimportantes considerations ; car les hommes n'ont jamais montre plus d'es- 
prit que lorsqu'Us ont badine. — Leibnitz, Eepliqices aux Reflexions de Bayle. 

New York: Charles Scrihner, 124 Grand Street 1859. 12mo. 
pp. 281. 

This work is dedicated to Lieutenant Greneral Scott. It is written 
with a considerable display of learning, metaphysical and otherwise. 
The nomenclature and phraseology are sometimes very curious. We 
notice some remarkable errors in spelHng, such as Guioco instead of 
Giuoco, Dal Rio for Del Bio,etc. The author has also fallen into some 
bibhographical errors, in his Introduction and elsewhere, such as mis- 
taking Ponziani's work for Del Rio*s treatise. 

XXXYII. 

Constitution of the Charleston Chess Club, Adopted Dec. 1858 — Incor- 
porated 1858. Charleston, Steam Presses of Walker, Evans <h Co. 
1859. Svo. pp. 8. 

Modelled after the new Rules and Regulations of the New York 
Chess Club rtitle XXX.) 

XXXYIII. 

The Manual of Chess : containing the elementary Principles of the Game ; 



500 Incidents in the History of 

illustrated with numerous Diagrams^ recent Games^ and original 
Problems. By Charles Kenny. New York: B, Apphton and 
Company^ 346 & 348 Broadway^ 1859. 12mo. pp. 122. 

Merely a new impression from the stereotype plates of title XYIII. 



XXXIX. 

The Exploits and Triumphs ^ in Europe^ of PaulMorphy^ the Chess Cham- 
pion ; including an historical account of Clubs^ biographical sketches of 
famous PlayerSj and various Information and Anecdote relating to the 
noble game of Chess. By Paul Morphy's late Secretary. New 
York: D. Appleton & Company^ 346 & 348 Broadway^ M.DCCC- 
LIX. \2mo. pp. via + 203. 

A gossiping account of the career of Morphy in Europe. Some 
portion might, perhaps, have been omitted or re-written, but, upon the 
whole, it is not an uninteresting volume. The author's name is Ere- 
DERiCK Milne Edge. 

Besides the works enumerated in the above list there are several 
editions of Hoyle's Games^ Boys' and Girls' Own Book, and other pub- 
lications of a character similar to the Academies des Jeux of the conti- 
nent, which contain brief treatises on the game of Chess. The Ency- 
clopcedia Americana has a chess article of no great value (vol. III. pp. 
132-134), while the New American Cy clopcedia contains a very brief and 
unsatisfactory notice by the present writer. A description of the Ja- 
panese game of Chess, from the pen of Dr. G-reen, the fleet surgeon, 
was printed on a quarto sheet by the press on board the Mississippi, a 
steamship of the Japanese squadron, while lying in the harbor of Hong- 
Kong. It was afterwards inserted in the official account of the Expe- 
dition. An article by the celebrated Edgar Allan Poe on " Maelzel's 
Chess-Player" was first made public in the Southern Literary Messenger 
(Vol. II. pp. 318-326, April, 1836), and was afterwards published in his 
collected works (Yol. iv. pp. 346-370). It deserves notice as a shrewd 
and bold attempt to explain the mystery of that singular combination 
of human brain and mechanical ingenuity. In the Southern Literary 
Messenger^ also, (Yol. lY. pp. 233-245) occurs a tale of love and chess 
under the name of The Game of Chess^ by the authoress of " The Cot- 
tage in the Glen,'' '^ Sensibility j'' etc. At a much earlier period the 



American Chess. 501 

Rhode Island Literary Repository^ published at Providence, contains 
(Vol. I. pp. 464-469, December, 1814) an original, but anonymous, 
essay entitled *^ Chess," which consists of a brief account of the origin 
of the game, followed by a long and pleasantly sketched parallel be- 
tween chess and hfe. James K. Armstrong wrote for the Democratic 
Review (New Series, Vol. IX. pp. 20-23, July, 1841) a poem called 
The Chess-Player^ lines suggested hy RetzscKs celebrated Picture, It 
begins : 

I saw two beings bending o'er a game, 
War's image and the parent of deep thought, 

and contains one hundred and fifty-two lines. Miss Hannah Flagg 
Gould, the well-known poetess, has written an address to Maelzel's 
Automaton in verse, which may be seen in the collection of her poems. 
Eichard Henry Stoddard, in one of his published volumes, has a short 
poem representing two lovers at chess. A clever allegorical story. The 
Queen of the Red Chessmenj was published in the Atlantic Monthly 
(Vol. I. pp. 431-435, 1858). Several EngHsh chess articles have been 
copied into such periodicals as Littell's Living Age^ and into the news- 
papers. Allusions to chess occur in the works of Cooper and several 
other popular writers. Sketches, stories, and essays, in which love, 
murder, and demonology are strangely intermingled with the peaceful 
game of Chess, are scattered through the daily and weekly journals of 
the land. 

On the first of March, 1845, the first weekly Chess column in the 
country was commenced in the Spirit of the Times in New York, under 
the editorship of Charles H. Stanley. * Its problems began to appear 
on diagrams June 20th, 1846. During the absence of Mr. Stanley in 
New Orleans, at the time of his match with Rousseau, the column was 
conducted by Colonel Charles D. Mead. A curious hoax appeared in 
an early number of the Chess department of the Spirit of the Times. 
The Editor had published the Indian Problem, at that time just received 
from Europe, and it had, of course, excited much attention. There- 
upon, some wicked lover of fun, writing under the signature of Mate^ 
informs the editor that the problem is by no means a new one, but 
was really number seventeen of the positions contained in the Dublin 
edition of Holmes on Chess, He furthermore requests the editor to 
examine and publish Holmes' position number twenty, which was 
much finer than the so-called Indian Problem. In the course of a 



502 Incidents in the History of 

t 

week or two, the editor, after a diligent search for Holmes on ChesSj 
begins to doubt the existence of the work and proceeds to castigate 
the perpetrator of the hoax in no measured terms. Mate then apolo- 
gises in a gentlemanly way and states that his only object was to play 
off a harmless deception upon Mr. Stanley and the New York Club, in 
which he had been perfectly successful. In 1848, Mr. Stanley com- 
menced a similar department in The Albion of New York, which is still 
published and is at present under the charge of Mr. Frederick Perrin. 
The New York Journal also published a meagre Chess column for some 
volumes, which was for a time supervised by Mr. Stanley. In 
1848 or 1849, Dr. B. I. Eaphael edited for some months a column 
devoted to the game in the Chronicle of Western Literature, a literary 
weekly published at Louisville, Ky. It ceased on account of the suspen- 
sion of the journal. Upon the establishment of Frank Leslie's Illus- 
trated Newspaper in 1855, the Chess column was placed in the able 
hands of Mr. W. J. A. Fuller, who has been followed by Mr. W. W. 
Montgomery, Mr. N. Marache, and Mr. Thomas Frere. The Syracuse 
Standard began a Chess column in the year 1857, at first under the 
direction of Mr. G-eorge N. Cheney, and latterly under that of Mr. Wil- 
liam 0. Fiske. Some other papers in New York City also published 
games, problems, and Chess intelligence regularly before the days of 
the Congress. Since the Congress, organs of this kind have increased 
with amazing rapidity, and I have room to mention only the most pro- 
minent ones. Boston has been represented by the American Union, 
and the Saturday Evening Gazette ; the former was for a while edited 
by Mr. James A. Potter, and the latter has been conducted from the 
commencement by Mr. W. H.^Kent and Mr. J. Chapman. At Lynn 
in the same state, the Chess department of the News is in the hands of 
Mr. N. J. Holden, and Mr. Eben Parsons, Jr. The Providence Press 
is edited, I believe, by Mr. Frank H. Thurber. In New York the old 
Spirit of the Times has again commenced the publication of Chess mat- 
ter, while new candidates for public favor are Porter's Spirit (edited at 
first by Mr. Stanley, and now by Mr. Marache), Harper s Weekly (by 
Mr. Stanley), the Saturday Press, the Musical World (by Samuel Loyd), 
the Freeman's Journal, the Boys and GirTs Magazine, and others. In 
Philadelphia the interest in the game is kept alive by the Evening Bul- 
letin under the charge of Dr. Samuel Lewis and Mr. Francis Wells, by 
the Sunday Mercury and by one or two less important organs. In 
Baltimore the Weekly Dispatch column is managed by Mr. F. Spilman, 
and the one in the Family Journal by Mr. S. N. Carvalho. The Sunday 



American Chess. 503 

Delta of New Orleans has, since the spring of 1858, given up a column 
or two, weekly, to Chess, under the supervision of Mr. Charles A. 
Maurian. The Charleston Courier has a Chess department. In Cin- 
cinnati Mr. T. French edited for some time a Chess column in the Sun- 
day Dispatch ; one is now published in the Daily Commercial and in 
Young s Sunday Dispatch, Louisville maintains two Chess columns, 
one, by Dr. C. C. Moore, in the Kentucky Turf Register ^ and the other 
in the Family Journal. The Missouri Democrat of St. Louis, as far as 
its Chess matter is concerned, is edited by Mr. Theodore M. Brown. 
The Chicago Sunday Leader has engaged for its Chess department the 
services of Mr. Louis Paulsen. A Chess department has of late been 
established in the Whig and Republican of Quincy, Illinois. The 
department of the Winona Republican of Winona, Minnesota, com- 
menced by Dr. C. C. Moore, is now conducted by another hand. Der 
Protestant of St. Louis and the Mississippi Blatter have represented the 
German lovers of Chess, while three or four western journals, printed 
in the English language and not enumerated in this list, have published 
Chess matter. All of these journals have exercised and are still exert- 
ing immense influence. They are generally conducted by persons of 
refinement and inteUigence, and their efforts must at last result in mak- 
ing the game more popular in the United States than it has ever been 
in any country of the Old World. 



XII.— PAUL MORPHY. 

Paul Morphy, the foremost Chess-player of the present age, and, so 
far as we are enabled to judge, the greatest Chess-player of any age, was 
born in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, on the twenty-second day 
of June in the year 1837. His grandfather, on the paternal side, was 
a native of Madrid, the capital of Spain, the land in which Euy Lopez 
and Xerone lived and died, and in which Leonardo da Cutri and Paolo 
Boi won their most glorious victories. Removing to America the 
grandfather of Paul resided for some years at Charleston, South Caro- 
lina, and had five children, two sons and three daughters. The elder 
son, Alonzo Morphy, the father of our hero, was born in November, 
1798, went to New Orleans at an early age, graduated at a French 
institution, known as the College d' Orleans^ studied law under the 
famous Edward Livingston, was Judge of the Supreme Court of 
Louisiana from 1840 to 1846, and died in November, 1856. He was a 



504 Incidents in the History of 

Chess-player of respectable ability, but was greatly excelled by his 
brother Ernest Morphy, formerly of New Orleans, then of Moscow, 
Clermont County, Ohio, and now of Quincy, Illinois. Judge Alonzo 
Morphy married a daughter of Mr. Joseph B. Le Carpentier, a 
gentleman of a French family, who came many years ago from St. 
Domingo to New Orleans, and who died in 1850. Mr. Morphy had 
six children, of which two sons and two daughters are now living. 
The elder son received the name of Edward, and is at present en- 
gaged in mercantile pursuits in his native city ; the younger son 
was christened Paul Charles, but usually signs his name simply 
Paul Morphy. 

During the days of Paul's childhood. Judge Morphy was accustomed 
in the evenings and on Sundays, as a relaxation from the severe labors 
of his profession, to play Chess, either with his father-in-law, Mr. Le 
Carpentier, who was a confirmed lover of the game, or with his brother, 
Ernest Morphy, who, as is widely known, occupied for a long time, a 
high rank in the New Orleans Chess Club. The boy Paul was wont 
to watch these friendly encounters with so much interest that his 
father, in 1847, when Paul was about ten years of age, explained to him 
the powers of the pieces and the laws of the game. In less than two 
years he was contending successfully on even terms with the strongest 
amateurs of the Crescent City. One peculiarity of Paul's play, during 
the infantile stage of his Chess life, while his father, his grandfather, 
his uncle, and his brother were his chief adversaries, used to create con- 
siderable merriment among the fireside circle of Chess lovers with 
whom he was brought into contact. His Pawns seemed to him to be 
only so many obstacles in his path, and his first work upon com- 
mencing a game was to exchange or sacrifice them all, giving free 
range to his pieces, after which, with his unimpeded Queen, Rooks, 
Bishops, and Knights, he began a fierce onslaught upon his opponent's 
forces, which was often valorously maintained until it resulted in 
mate. 

Paul fitted himself for college by several years' study in Jefferson Aca- 
demy, New Orleans. Leaving this seminary he became, in December, 
1850, a student of St. Joseph's College. This institution, one of the best 
Catholic educational establishments of the South, is situated in the 
pleasant village of Spring Hill, six miles west of Mobile, Alabama, and 
was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1830. Here Paul passed the 
usual four years of the undergraduate course, spending the agreeable and 
profitable days of student-life, very much, we may suppose, as multi- 



1 



American Chess. 505 

tudes of other youth have done since the time of the earhest university. 
During the periods given up to recreation Chess was allowed by the 
government of the institution and Paul occasionally indulged in his 
favorite amusement. Both among his fellow-pupils and the faculty he 
enjoyed considerable fame as by far the strongest player in college, and 
now and then one of the learned Professors permitted himself to be 
beaten, at heavy odds, by the young disciple of Caissa. Among Paul's 
adversaries was Mr. Charles Amedee Maurian, of New Orleans, a 
younger student, with whom he had already been upon terms of inti- 
macy in their school days at the Jefferson Academy. But it was not 
alone as a Chess-player that Paul made his mark at college. He was 
known as a close student, and won either the first or second premiums 
in every department during each year that he remained at Spring 
Hill. In the classics he took especial delight, but exhibited less of a 
fondness and aptitude for mathematics. During the annual vacations, 
which lasted from the fifteenth of October to the first of December, Paul 
returned home, and at these periods he used to encounter some of the 
leading practitioners of New Orleans. He graduated with honor in 
October, 1854, less than four months after he had finished his seven- 
teenth year. His youth induced him to pass another year at college as a 
resident graduate, and he left New Orleans in December of the same 
year and remained at Spring Hill until the close of the academical term 
in October, 1855. In the following month he entered the Law School 
of the University of Louisiana, where he enjoyed the instruction of such 
men as Christian Eoselius, Eandall Hunt, Alfred Hennen and Judge 
Theodore McCaleb — all of them prominent ornaments of the Louisiana 
bar. He graduated at the Law School in April, 1857, and was admit- 
ted to practice in the courts of his native state, so soon as he should 
attain the legal age of twenty-one. 

In the course of the years 1849 and 1850, before entering college, 
Paul contested over fifty parties with Mr. Eugene Rousseau, a gentle- 
man whose name is familiar to Chess readers in both hemispheres on 
account of his famous match with Mr. Charles H. Stanley in 1845, and 
from the fact that he played in Paris more than one hundred even 
games with Kieseritzky, of which the great Livonian won only a bare 
majority. The first meeting between the veteran devotee of the game 
and his youthful opponent was brought about by Mr. Ernest Morphy. 
Of the games played, Paul came off the conqueror in fully nine-tenths. 
The following irregular counter gambit in the King's Knight's Opening 
may serve as a specimen : 

22 



5o6 



Incidents in the History of 



MORPHT. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. P. to Q. 3d. 
6. Castles. 

6. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

7. P. takes P. 

8. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

9. Q. to K. B. 3d. 

10. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 

11. Q. to K. B. 7th (ch.) 

12. Q. to K. 6th (ch.) 

13. Q. takes P. (ch.) 

14. Q. takes Q. (ch.) 

15. Kt. to K. B. 7th (ch.) 

16. Kt. takes R. 

17. P. takes P. 

18. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

19. K. R. to K. sq. 

20. Q. B. to Kt. 2nd (ch.) 

21. K. R. to K. 5th (ch.) 

22. Q. B. to B. sq. (ch.) 

23. K. R. takes K. Kt. P. 



Rousseau. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. P. to K. B. 4th. 

4. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

5. P. to Q. 3d. 

6. P. to Q. 4th. 

7. Kt. takes P. 

8. Q. Kt. to K. 2nd. 

9. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

10. P. takes Kt. 

11. K to Q. 2nd. 

12. K. to Q. B. 2nd. 

13. Q. to Q. 3d. 

14. K. takes Q. 

15. K. to K. 3d. 

16. P. takes P. 

17. K. to K. B. 3d. 

18. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

19. Q. B. to K. Kt. sq. 

20. K. to Kt. 4th. 

21. K. to K. R. 3d. 
23. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 



and Mr. Rousseau resigns. Ernest Morphy's Chess strength was near- 
ly equal to Rousseau's. Commencing with the year 1849 the uncle 
and nephew have played something like a hundred games, Paul having 
been the victor in almost every combat. Among Paul's numerous vic- 
tories over his relative was this pretty specimen of the Evans Garnbitj 
played in November, 1856 : 



Paul Morphy. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. P. to Q Kt. 4th. 
6. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

6. P. to Q. 4th. 

7. Castles. 

8. Q. Kt. takes K. B. 

9. Q. B. to R. 3d. 
10. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 



Eenkst Moephy. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. K. B. takes Kt. P. 

5. K. B. to R. 4th. 

6. K. P. takes P. 

7. K. B. takes B. P. 

8. Q. P. takes Q. Kt. 

9. P. to Q. 3d. 

10. K. Kt. to R. 3d. 



American Chess. 



507 



Paul Morphy. 

11. Q. takes B. P. 

12. P. to K. 5th. 

13. K. R. to K. sq. 

14. Q. R. to Kt. sq. 

15. K. B.'to Q. R. 6th. 

16. K. R. to Q. B. sq. 

17. Q. takes Q. Kt. 

18. Q. takes R. P. (ch.) 

19. K. R. takes B. 

20. R. takes B. P. (ch.) 

21. Q. to Q. B. 6th (eh.) 

22. Q. R. to Q. Kt. 8th. 

23. K. R. to K. 7th (ch.) 

24. R. takes R. (ch.) 

25. R. takes Q. (Mate.) 



Ernest Morphy. 

11. Q. to K. B. 3d. 

12. Q. P. takes P. 

13. B. to Q. 2iid. 

14. Castles (Q. R.) 

15. Q. Kt. to R. 4th. 

16. B. to Q. B. 3d. 

17. Kt. P. takes B. 

18. K. to Q. 2nd. 

19. Q. to K. B. 4th. 

20. K. to K sq. 

21. Q. to Q. 2iid. 

22. Q. takes Q. 

23. K. to K. B. sq. 

24. Q. to K. sq. 



The crowning triumph, however, of the younger years of the American 
master was his defeat of Lowenthal. This distinguished Hungarian 
player, who had long before acquired a European reputation as a gifted 
cultivator of the art of Chess, was, like his famous Chess- loving coun- 
tryman, G-rimm, driven into exile by the disastrous events which fol- 
lowed the heroic but unfortunate struggle of the Magyars against Aus- 
tria. Coming to America, he visited New York and some of the 
western cities, and finally reached New Orleans in May, 1850. On the 
twenty-second and twenty-fifth of that month he played with Paul 
Morphy (at that time not yet thirteen years of age) in the presence of 
Mr. Rousseau, Mr. Ernest Morphy, and a large number of the amateurs 
of New Orleans. The first game was a drawn one, but the second and 
third were won by the invincible young Philidor. Another opponent 
of Paul Morphy's before the Congress was Mr. James McConnell, a 
lawyer of New Orleans, with whom he played about thirty games, of 
which he won all but one. During the last year which he spent at St. 
Joseph's College, on the first day of March, 1855, Paul Morphy con- 
tested six parties against Judge A. B. Meek of that city, and was suc- 
I cessful in all. On the same day he encountered Dr. Ayers, also a pro- 
i minent amateur of Alabama, in two games, with a similar result. In 
January, 1857, he again met Judge Meek in New Orleans and won the 
four games played at that time. With his friend Mr. Charles A. Mau- 
I rian, now undoubtedly one of the strongest players in the country, he 
I has played a multitude of games at odds diminishing in value as Mr. 



5o8 Incidents in the History of 



I 



Maurian's strength increased. Their contests at the odds of Rook or 
Knight are among the very best combats of their kind on record. The 
first place at which Paul Morphy ever played in pubhc was the News 
Room of the Exchange at New Orleans, where his board was always 
surrounded by veterans of the game gazing with wonder and surprise 
at the almost incredible achievements of the boy before them. Aston- 
ished as they were, there were doubtless very few among them who 
anticipated the more brilhant feats which he was afterwards to per- 
form upon a grander field and against greater foemen. 

In the latter part of June, 1857, the writer of this article, who was 
then acting as Secretary to the Committee of Management, wrote a 
note to Paul Morphy inviting his special attendance at the coming 
Congress. A reply was received early in July from Mr. Morphy declin- 
ing to accede to the request, the death of his father a few months 
before making him reluctant to take part in such a scene of festivity 
as a Chess Congress. A lengthy letter was then sent to Mr. Maurian, 
urging him and others of Mr. Morphy's friends in New Orleans, to press 
the matter for the sake of Chess and the Congress. And finally, late 
in September, the writer had the pleasure of receiving a telegram from 
Mr. Morphy saying that he would leave his home the following Wed- 
nesday on his way to New York. It was with the prestige acquired 
by his victories over Lowenthal, Rousseau, Ernest Morphy, Ayers, 
Meek, and McConnell, that Paul Morphy arrived in New York on the 
fifth of October, 1857, to participate in the first Congress of the Ameri- 
can Chess Association. But few specimens of his skill had appeared 
in print. And notwithstanding his general high reputation, there were 
many, who from his youth and the small number of his published games, 
manifested much incredulity concerning his actual Chess strength and | 
the probability of its standing the shock of the attack which would be I 
made against it by the first players of America. But on the evening I 
of his arrival all doubts were removed in the minds of those who wit- P 
nessed his passages-at-arms with Mr. Stanley and Mr. Perrin at the 
rooms of the New York Club, and the first prize was universally con- 
ceded to him, even before the entries for the G-rand Tournament had 
been completed. Certainty became more sure as the Congress progressed 
and he overthrew either in the Tournament or in side play, one after 
another of those men who had long been looked up to as the magnates 
of the American Chess World. Among those whom he met and con- 
quered during the time of the Congress were Mr. George Hammond 
of Boston, Mr. Theodore Lichtenhein, Mr. Napoleon Marache, Mr. 



American Chess. 



509 



James Thompson, Mr. Charles D. Mead, Mr, Charles H. Stanley, and 
Mr. Frederick Perrin of New York, Mr. Hardman Philips Montgomery 
of Philadelphia, Mr. Hiram Kennicott of Chicago, and Mr. Louis Paul- 
sen of Dubuque, Iowa, most of whom had been for years considered 
the representatives of Chess in this country. One of the most striking 
games of this date, on account of its beautiful termination, was an off- 
hand Evans Gambit with Mr. Marache. 



Marache. 




MORPHY. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


4. 


K. B. takes Kt. P. 


5. P. to Q. B. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to R. 4th. 


6. P. to Q. 4th. 


6. 


P. takes P. 


7. P. to K. 5th. 


7. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


8. P. takes P. (in pass.) 


8. 


Q. takes P. 


9. Castles. 


9. 


K. Kt. to K. 2nd. 


10. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 


10. 


Castles. 


11. K. B. to Q. 3d. 


11. 


Q. B. to K. B. 4th. 


12. B. takes B. 


12. 


Kt. takes B. 


13. B. to Q. R. 3d. 


13. 


Q. to K. Kt. 3d. 


14. B. takes K. R. 


14. 


Q. takes Kt. 


15. B. to Q. R. 3d. 


15. 


P. takes P. 


16. Q. B. to B. sq. 


16. 


Q. to K. Kt. 3d. 


17. B. to K. B. 4th. 


17. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


18. Q. to Q. B. 2nd. 


18. 


Q. Kt to Q. 5th. 


19. Q. toK. 4th. 


19. 


K. Kt. to K. Kt. 6th 



And Mr. Marache, losing the Queen, resigns. 

But the earlier pages of this volume are a sufficient witness to the 
gallant exploits of Paul Morphy during the sessions of the first national 
assembly of American Chess-players, from his entrance into the Grand 
Tournament to his final and complete victory over all opponents which 
secured him the highest prize in the gift of the Congress. His amiable 
character, his youth and his modesty had won the hearts of the members 
and visitors even before they had fully learned to admire and applaud 
his unrivalled excellence as a player. Half unconscious, perhaps, of 
his own powers in this respect, he gave no such exhibition of his com- 
mand of unseen Chessboards as those with which he has since aston- 
ished the Capitals of England and France. But that his ability was 
only latent, was evident to many who watched the progress of his 



510 



Incidents in the History of 



single public blindfold game with Mr. Paulsen, at the close of which he 
announced, amidst the applause of more than two hundred excited 
spectators, a forced checkmate in five moves. After the Congress he 
remained more than a month in New York, dehghting the Chess-club 
of that city with frequent visits and playing a number of games at the 
odds of Kook or Knight with various competitors. It was at this time 
that he addressed a courteous note to the Secretary of the club, in 
which he stated that he was desirous, before leaving for the South, of 
testing his actual strength, and with that view he ventured to proffer 
the odds of Pawn and Move, in a match, to any of the leading mem- 
bers of the club. This challenge was accepted, on behalf of the club, 
by Mr. Charles H. Stanley. Mr. T. J". Bryan, a gentleman whose 
countenance is a familiar one both in the Chess circles of Paris and 
New York, arranged the preliminaries on the part of Mr. Morphy, 
while Mr. Bailey acted as the second of Mr. Stanley. The following 
is one of the games, in which Black's King's Bishop's Pawn is to be 
removed from the board. 





Stanley. 


Morphy. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. P. to K. 3d. 


2. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


2. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


P. to K. 5th. 


3. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


4. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


5. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


5. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


6. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


6. P. takes P. 


7. 


B. takes P. 


7. Kt. takes B. 


8. 


Kt. takes Kt. 


8. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


9. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


9. Kt. to K. 2nd. 


10. 


B. to Q. Kt. 5th (oh.) 


10. Kt. to Q. B. 3d. 


11. 


B. takes Kt. (ch.) 


11. P. takes B. 


12. 


Q. to K. R. 5th (ch.) 


12. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


13. 


Q. to K. Kt. 4th. 


13. Castles. 


14. 


Castles. 


14. B. to Q. R. 3d. 


15. 


Q. takes K. P. (ch.) 


15. K. to R. sq. 


16. 


K. R. to Q. sq. 


16. Q. R. to K. sq. 


17. 


Q. to K. Kt. 4th. 


17. Q. R. takes K. P. 


18. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 2nd. 


18. Q. B. to Q. B. sq. 


19. 


Q. to K. Kt. 3d. 


19. K. B. to Q. 3d. 


20. 


Q. to Q. 3d. 


20. Q. B. to R. 3d. 


21. 


Q. to Q. B. 2d. 


21. R. to K. R. 4th. 


22. 


Q. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


22. P. to Q. B. 4th. 


23. 


Kt. to K. 2nd. 


23. R. takes Kt. 



American Chess. 511 



Stanley. 

24. P. takes R. 

25. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

26. R. takes Q. P. 

27. Q. to Q. B. 3d (ch.) 

28. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 



Morphy. 

24. Q. to Q. sq. 

25. R. takes K. R. P. 

26. Q. to K. R. 5th. 

27. K. to Kt. sq. 

28. Q. to K. R. 6th. 



and Mr. Stanley resigns. According to the terms of the match, the 
winner of the first seven games was to be the declared victor ; but 
after playing five games, the score standing 

Morphy 4. Stanley 0. Drawn 1. 

Mr. Stanley, through his second, resigned the contest. Before his 
departure from the commercial metropolis, Mr. Morphy had the plea- 
sure of encountering another combatant of universally acknowledged 
skiU, Mr. John W. Schulten. The result of their three or four sittings 
was 

Morphy 23. Schulten 1. Drawn 0. 

On the seventeenth of December, 1 857, Mr. Morphy left New York, 
where he had spent nearly three months and a half, on his way to his 
Southern home. The evening before his departure a large number of 
the Chess lovers of the city gave him a farewell dinner, at which Mr. 
James Thompson presided. Near the close of the year he reached 
New Orleans, by way of the Mississippi, and met with a cordial recep- 
tion from his friends and the Chess-players of that city, by whom he 
was serenaded soon after his arrival. In January he announced in the 
pages of the Chess Monthly that the challenge which had been extended 
to the members of the Kew York Chess Club was now open to the 
acceptance of the whole American Chess community, and that he was 
willing to play a match with any prominent amateur in the country 
and would give the odds of Pawn and Move. It was never accepted. 
During the remainder of the winter of 1857-8 he occasionally attended 
the sittings of the New Orleans Club, of which he had been elected 
president some months previous. Here he played several games at 
the odds of Rook and Knight alternately with Mr. John Tanner, a late- 
ly-deceased G-erman amateur, of which he won a large majority, with 
Mr. McConnell afthe odds of the Knight, and with Mr. Maurian, Dr. R. 
Beattie (formerly of the St. Louis Club) and others at the odds of the 
Rook. He also made his first serious attempts at playing without 
eight of the boards, and on different evenings contested in the Club 



512 Incidents in the History of 

Eooms successively two, three, four, five, six, and seven parties at once 
in this manner, with unvarying success. The rooms were hterally 
crowded on every occasion with curious observers. In March Mr. 
William W. Montgomery, the representative amateur of Georgia, paid 
a visit to the Club, and met Mr. Morphy first in even games and 
then at the odds of Pawn and two Moves and Knight, and was com- 
pelled to succumb in nearly every game. Mr. Montgomery had pre- 
viously established a good reputation in even-handed contests with the 
first-rates of the New York and other Northern Chess circles. Soon 
afterwards the Club was favored by a hasty call from Mr. T. H. Worrall, 
an English gentleman, who is known from his residence in the city of 
Mexico as '' the Mexican Amateur." Mr. Morphy gave him a Knight 
and won a slight majority of the games played. The contest was after- 
wards resumed on the other side of the ocean. 

After having won the highest honors which could be gained in the 
American Chess arena, Paul Morphy 's friends and admirers were natu- 
rally anxious to see him arrayed against the great players of the Old 
World. Meanwhile, there seemed to be little chance of the immediate 
fulfilment of this hope, for Mr. Morphy entertained no idea of crossing 
the Atlantic for some years to come. But it might, perhaps, be possi- 
ble, by an ofi'er liberal enough to cover all his expenses, to induce 
some European amateur to attempt the journey. Accordingly a com- 
mittee of the New Orleans Club, in a letter dated the fourth of Febru- 
ary, 1858, invited Mr. Howard Staunton of England to visit New 
Orleans for the purpose of playing a match with Mr. Morphy, for a sum 
of five thousand dollars, one half to be furnished by the amateurs of 
New Orleans, and the other half by Mr. Staunton or his friends. The 
proposed terms of the match provided that *' should the English player 
lose the match, the sum of one thousand dollars " was '^ to be paid him 
out of the stakes in reimbursement of the expenses incurred by him." 
One of the reasons that induced the originators of this challenge to 
select Mr. Staunton, in preference to some of the great players of the 
Continent, was that his name was more familiar to the American Chess 
public. His books formed a part of a collection which is to be found 
in all the libraries of the Union, and were known to every amateur. 
He and his friends, moreover, had maintained for years his title to the 
Chess championship of G-reat Britain, and with what other nation do 
Americans so delight to compete as with the sons of our mother-land ? 
But Mr. Staunton, as he had a perfect right to do, declined the ofier of 
the New Orleans committee. At the same time his reply was couched 



American Chess. 513 

in language designed to make the world believe that only the distance 
between London and New Orleans prohibited his acceptance of the 
challenge. Mr. Morphy determined to remove this obstacle and in the 
last days of May left his native city, with the good wishes of all who 
knew him, to encounter the English player upon English ground. He 
arrived in New York, where he was warmly received by the Club, on 
the eighth of June, and sailed the next day in the steamship Arabia for 
Liverpool, which he reached on the twenty-first. 

The world that opened upon Paul Morphy, when he set foot upon 
the eastern continent, could hardly be called a new one. Familiar 
with the published games of all the living masters, he had examined 
their style and measured their strength with an acuteness of Chess 
judgment which has never been equalled, and with a memory which 
is rarely treacherous. The men with whom he was about to meet 
were no strangers to him ; he had known from boyhood every pecu- 
liarity of their Chess character. The foemen before him could have 
inspired him with no sentiments of fear ; for, aware of the strength of 
their blows, he felt confident that his own would be stronger. In 
short, whatever doubts others may have felt, Paul Morphy himself 
could hardly have anticipated any other result to his European tour 
than that which actually followed. It was the lord of a broad realm 
going forth, in the pride of his hereditary right, to take possession of 
his own, with the modesty of youth and the confidence of strength. 
Leaving Liverpool on the day of his arrival he went to Birmingham, 
to attend, as he supposed, the annual meeting of the British Chess 
Association. It had been appointed to take place at this time, but had 
afterwards been adjourned until August; the news of this postpone- 
ment, however, had failed to reach Mr. Morphy. Having learned the 
facts at Birmingham, he set out for London the following morning, 
and went to Lowe's Hotel in Surrey Street, Strand, a house kept by 
a German gentleman who had held, some years back, a leading posi- 
tion in the Chess circles of the great metropoUs. In the capital of 
G-reat Britain Mr. Morphy found an ample field for the exercise of his 
great powers. No city in the world possesses so many localities 
devoted to the practice of the game, or numbers so many persons 
given to its habitual culture. Mr. Morphy visited the St. George's 
Club, and the Divan in the Strand, soon after his arrival, and one of 
his earliest combatants was Mr. W. Barnes, with whom, among 
numerous other contests, he played at the Divan the following fine 
specimen of the Philidor's Defence, 

22^ 



SH 



Incidents in the History of 



Barnes. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. P. to Q. 4th. 

4. Q. P. takes K. P. 

5. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

6. P. to K. 6th. 

7. K. Kt. to B. 7th. 

8. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

9. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 

10. K. Kt. takes K. R. 

11. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

12. K. Kt. to B. 7th. 

13. K. R. to B. sq. 

14. P. to K. B. 3d. 

15. Q. Kt. to R. 3d. 

16. B. takes Q. B. 

17. Q. takes Q. Kt. 

18. Castles. 

19. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

20. K. to Kt. sq. 

21. Kt. to K. 5th. 

22. Kt. to Q. 3d. 

23. Kt. takes B. 



MORPHY. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 3d. 

3. P. to K. B. 4. 

4. B. P. takes P. 

5. P. to Q. 4th. 

6. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

7. Q. to K. B. 3d. 

8. P. to Q. 5th. 

9. Q. to K. B. 4th. 

10. Q. takes Q. B. 

11. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

12. Q. takes Kt. P. 

13. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

14. Q. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

15. Q. B. takes P. 

16. Q. Kt. to Q. 6th (ch.) 

17. P. takes Q. 

18. B. takes Q. Kt. 

19. P. to Q. 7th (ch.) 

20. B. to B. 4th. 

21. K. to B. sq. 

22. K to K. sq. 

23. Q. takes K. R. 



And Mr. Barnes, of course, resigns the battle. Another contest at the 
same opening with Mr. H. E. Bird is almost as brilliant as the one just 
given and was played about the same time. Mr. Morphy's antagonist 
has been recognised during the past three or four years as one of the 
most formidable native players of England. 



Bird. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. toB. 3d.' 

3. P. to Q. 4th. 

4. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

5. Q. Kt. takes P. 

6. Q. Kt. to K. Kt. 3d. 

7. K. Kt. to K. 5th. 

8. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 

9. Q. Kt. to K. R. 5th. 

10. Q. to Q. 2nd. 

11. P. to K. Kt 4th. 



MORPHY. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 3d. 

3. P. to K. B. 4th. 

4. B. P. takes P. 
6. P. to Q. 4th. 

6. P. to K. 5th. 

7. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

8. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

9. Castles. 

10. Q. to K. sq. 

11. K. Kt. takes Kt. P. 



American Chess. 



515 





BlED. 




MOEPHY. 


12. 


K. Kt. takes K. Kt. 


12. 


Q. takes Q. Kt. 


13. 


Kt. to K. 5th. 


13. 


Kt. to Q. B. 3d. 


14. 


K. B. to K. 2nd. 


14. 


Q. to K. R. 6th. 


15. 


Kt. takes Kt. 


15. 


P. takes Kt. 


16. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


16. 


Q. R. to Kt. sq. 


17. 


Castles (Q. R.) 


17. 


K. R. takes B. P. 


18. 


Q. B. takes K. R. 


18. 


Q. to Q, R. 6th. 


19. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


19. 


Q. takes R. P. 


20. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


20. 


Q. to R. 8th (ch.) 


21. 


K. to B. 2nd. 


21. 


Q. to R. 5th (ch.) 


22. 


K. to Kt. 2nd. 


22. 


K. B. takes Kt^P. 


23. 


P. takes K. B. 


23. 


R. takes P. (eh.) 


24. 


Q. takes R. 


24. 


Q. takes Q. (ch.) 


25. 


K. to B. 2nd. 


25. 


P. to K. 6th. 


26. 


B. takes P. 


26. 


B. to K. B. 4th (ch.) 


27. 


Q. R. to Q. 3d. 


27. 


Q. to Q. B. 5th (ch.) 


28. 


K. to Q. 2nd. 


28. 


Q. to R. 7th (ch.) 


29. 


K. to Q. sq. 


29. 


Q. to Kt. 8th (ch.) 



and Mr. Bird resigns. 

Besides the players already mentioned Mr. Morphy met and defeated 
by large majorities Boden, Medley, Mongredien, Owen, Hampton, and 
Lowe. But the greatest of his English triumphs was to come. His 
old Hungarian opponent, who had encountered him seven years before, 
was now in London. Since the battles at New Orleans Lowenthal's 
strength had greatly increased. His natural talent for the game had 
been cultivated by several years of practice in the clubs ; his power- 
ful analytical ability had been improved by a long period of study and 
editorship. Of the off-hand games which he had played with Staunton 
he had won a considerable majority, and at a later period he was destined 
to wrest still more honorable laurels from the same chief in the lists of 
Birmingham. A match was soon arranged. The Anglo- Magyar's 
friends subscribed five hundred dollars, to which Mr. Morphy added an 
equal sum, and the playing began in the latter part of July. The sit- 
tings took place alternately at the London Club and at the St. Greorge's 
Club. The writer gives here the fourth game of the match, a good 
example of the King's Gamhit Refused, 



Morphy. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to K. B. 4th, 



LOWKNTHAL. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 



5i6 



Incidents in the History of 





MOEPHY. 




LOWENTHAL, 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


4. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


4. 


Q. B. to Kt. 5th. 


5. 


K. B. to K. 2nd. 


5. 


Q. B. takes K. Kt. 


6. 


K. B. takes Q. B. 


6. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


7. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


7. 


B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


8. 


P. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


8. 


Q. Kt. to K. 2nd. 


9. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


9. 


K. P. takes B. P. 


10. 


Q. B. takes P. 


10. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


11. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


11. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


12. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 2nd. 


12. 


Castles. 


13. 


Castles. 


13. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


14. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


14. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


15. 


Q. to K. 2nd. 


15. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


16. 


Q. to Q. 3d. 


16. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


17. 


P. to K. 5th. 


17. 


K. Kt. to Q. 2nd. 


18. 


K. B. to R. 5th. 


18. 


K. R. to K. 3d. 


19. 


P. to Q. R. 5th. 


19. 


B. to B. 2nd. 


20. 


K. R. takes B. P. 


20. 


K. takes K. R. 


21. 


Q. to B. 5th (ch.) 


21. 


K. to K. 2nd. 


22. 


K. B. takes Q. Kt 


22. 


Q. to K. Kt. sq. 


23. 


Q. B. to B. 2nd. 


23. 


Kt. takes K. P. 


24. 


Q. P. takes Kt. 


24. 


Q. R. to K. B. sq. 


25. 


Q. B. to Q. B. 5th (ch.) 


25. 


K. to Q. sq. 


26. 


Q. B. takes Q. R. 


26. 


R. takes K. P. 


27. 


Q. to K. B. 2nd. 


27. 


Q. to K. 3d. 


28. 


P. to Q. Kt. 6th. 


28. 


R. P. takes P. 


29. 


R. P. takes R. 


29. 


Q. takes K. B. 


30. 


Kt. P. takes B. (ch.) 


30. 


K. takes P. 


31. 


R. to Q. Kt. sq. 







and Mr. Morphy wins. The result of the whole match, which came 
to a conclusion on the twenty-second of August, was 



Morphy 9. 



LoWENTHAL 3. 



Drawn 2. 



It is pleasant to be able to record that feelings of the utmost courtesy 
prevailed during the entire continuance of the match ; indeed Mr. 
Lowenthal's whole conduct towards his young conqueror, from the day 
of his arrival in London to that of his departure from Europe, was 
characterized by extreme generosity and kindness. This contest was 
not yet finished before the indefatigable victor had consented to another 
with the Reverend Mr. Owen, known in the columns of the Chess jour- 



American Chess. 



517 



nals, by the pseudonym of '^ Alter." Mr. Morphy gave the odds of the 
Pawn and Move, and the score at the termination stood 

Owen 0. 



Morphy 5. 



Drawn 2. 



But the avowed object of Mr. Morphy 's voyage remained unaccom- 
pHshed. Mr. Staunton, still promising to play, postponed the com- 
mencement of the match from time to time, until October, when he 
finally declined it. This is not the place to comment upon the singu- 
lar conduct of the British player. His own countrymen have loudly 
rebuked him for the course which he saw fit to pursue, and the Chess 
press all over the world has manifested its approbation of the Ameri- 
can's behavior. And after all the pubKc has lost but little by Mr. 
Staunton's refusal to play. Games between players who differ so 
greatly in strength could have afforded neither instruction nor enter- 
tainment. A sort of victory over the whilom leader of the ranks of 
English Chess Mr. Morphy was permitted to obtain in two consultation 
games. One of them, a Philidor's Defence played at Mr. Staunton's 
residence in Streatham, is here appended : 



Staunton and Owen. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 
P. to Q. 4th. 
Q. P. takes K P. 
K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

6. P. to K. 6th. 

7. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

8. K. Kt takes K. P. 
Q. to K. R. 5th (eh.) 
Q. to K. 5th. 
Q. B. takes K. Kt. 
Q. R. to Q. sq. 

13. Q. to Q. B. 7th. 

14. Q. takes Q. Kt. P. 

15. P. to K. B. 3d. 

16. Q. takes Q. K. 

17. Kt. to K. 4th. 

18. B. to K. 2nd. 

19. Castles. 

20. Kt. to Q. B. 5th. 

21. K. to R. sq. 

22. R. to Q. 4th. 



3. 

4. 
5. 



9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 



Morphy and Barnes. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 3d. 

3. P. to K. B. 4th. 

4. K. B. P. takes P. 
6. P. to Q. 4th. 

6. K. Kt. to K. R. 3d. 

7. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

8. P. takes Kt. 

9. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 
10. K. R. to K. Kt. sq. 
IJ. K. B. takes B. 

12. Q. to K. Kt. 4th. 

13. Q. B. takes P. 

14. P. to K. 6th. 

15. Q. to K. 2nd. 

16. K. to K. B. 2nd. 

17. K. B. to B. 5th. 

18. K. to Kt. 2nd. 

19. Q. to Q. B. 2nd. 

20. B. takes K. R. P. (eh.) 

21. B. to Q. B. sq. 

22. B. to K. Kt. 6th. 



518 Incidents in the History of 



Staunton and Owen. 


MORPHY AND BARNEB. 


23. R. to K. 4th. 


23. K. to R. sq. 


24. R. to Q. sq. 


24. Q. to K. Kt. 2nd. 


25. R. to K. R. 4th. 


25. B. takes R. 


26. Q. takes Q. Kt. 


26. Q. B. to R. 3d. 


27. Q. to K. R. 2nd. 


27. B. takes B. 


28. R. to Q. 7th. 


28. Q. to K. R. 3d. 


29. Kt. to K. R. 4th. 


29. B. to Q. B. 5th. 


30. Kt. to K. B. 6th. 


30. P. to K. 7th. 



and Mr. Staunton and his ally resign. 

There were several reasons why Mr. Morphy declined entering the 
Tournament at the annual meeting of the British Chess Association in 
Birmingham. The Committee, having invited his attendance, ofifered 
him, soon after his arrival in England, the sum of seventy pounds to 
defray, in part, his expenses. This Mr. Morphy declined. If he had 
taken part in the contest and had been so fortunate as to win the chief 
prize (sixty guineas) it might have been thought that he had magnani- 
mously refused the money at one time feeling certain to gain it at 
another. Many prominent personages in tlie London Chess circles 
were desirous, too, of seeing the Chess-editors of The Era and the 
Illustrated News meet in the lists, a circumstance which it was felt 
would be less likely to occur if the American took part in it. And 
finally Mr. Morphy was advised to refrain from playing lest it should 
have a fatal influence upon the prospects of his match with Mr. Staun- 
ton. But he never intended to disappoint those who might feel a desire 
to witness some specimens of his skill and accordingly at noon on Thurs- 
day, the twenty-sixth of August, he reached the seat of the conflict by 
a mid-day train, and ofi*ered to play eight games simultaneously with- 
out sight of the boards against any eight gentlemen who might be 
selected to oppose him. A feat like this would certainly compensate 
the members of the Association for any feelings of regret arising froin 
his failure to participate in the Tournament. Before such an achieve- 
ment the traditional exploits of Philidor and Labourdonnais seemed 
insignificant afiairs, and the bhndfold Chess with which Harrwitz a few 
years back had astonished the amateurs of the provinces was divested 
of its wonderful character. On Friday at one o^clock, in the Library 
Hall of the Queen's College, Mr. Morphy commenced the execution of 
his stupendous task. His opponents were 

L Lord Lyttleton, President of the Association. 
II. Reverend G. Salmon, of Ireland. 



American Chess. 



519 



III. Mr. J. S. Kipping, Jr., Secretary of the Manchester Club. 
lY. Mr. Thomas Avery, President of the Birmingham Club. 
Y. Mr. Carr, Secretary of the Leamington Club. 
YI. Dr. James Freeman, late President of the Birmingham Club. 
YII. Mr. Rhodes, of the Leeds Club. 
YIII. Mr. W. R. Wills, Honorary Secretary of the Association. 

Among those who were present in the hall were Lowenthal, Staunton, 
Boden, Bird, Owen, Hampton, Falkbeer, and Brien. Mr. Morphy 
won six games, lost one and drew one, terminating the remarkable 
contest at a quarter past six o'clock, amid the loud plaudits of the 
assembled spectators. Among these combats the following at the 
King's Bishop's Opening is perhaps the most striking. It was played 
at the sixth board. 





MOEPHY. 




Fkeeman. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


2. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


3. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


4. 


K. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


4. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


5. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


5. 


P. takes P. 


6. 


K. Kt. takes P. 


6. 


K. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


7. 


Q. Kt. to Q. B. 3d. 


7. 


Castles. 


8. 


Castles. 


8. 


Kt. takes K. P. 


9. 


Kt. takes Kt. 


9. 


P. to Q, 4th. 


10. 


Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


10. 


Q. to K. sq. 


11. 


K. B. takes Q. P. 


11. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


12. 


K. B. to K sq. 


12. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


13. 


Kt. to K. B. 6th (eh.) 


13. 


P. takes Kt. 


14. 


Q. B. takes P. 


14. 


Q. to Q. 3d. 


15. 


Kt. to K. 6th. 


15. 


Q. B. takes Kt. 


16. 


Q. to K. R. 5th. 


16. 


K. B. takes P. (eh.) 


17. 


K. to R. sq. 


17. 


Q. to K. B. 5th. 


18. 


R. takes Q. B. 


18. 


Kt. to Q. 2d. 


19. 


Q. B. to Q. Kt. 2d. 


19. 


B. to Q. 5th. 


20. 


P. to K. Kt. 3d. 


20. 


Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


21. 


P. takes Q. 


21. 


Kt. takes Q. 


22. 


B. takes B. 


22. 


Kt. takes K. B. P. 


23. 


Q. R. to K. Kt. sq. (eh.) 


23. 


Kt. to K. Kt. 3d. 


24. 


Q. R. takes Kt. (ch.) 


24. 


K. R. P. takes R. 


25. 


R. takes P. (ch.) 


25. 


K. to R. 2d. 


26. 


R. to K. Kt. 7th (ch.) 


26. 


K. to R. 3d. 


27. 


K B. to K. 4th. 


27. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 



520 



Incidents in the History of 





MORPHY. 




Freeman. 


28. 


K. B. to Q. 3d. 


28. 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


29. 


R. to K. Kt. 3d. 


29. 


K. R. to K. B. 2d. 


30. 


Q. B. to K. 5th. 


30. 


Q. R. to K. sq. 


31. 


Q. B. to K. B. 4th (ch.) 


31. 


K. to R. 2d. 


32. 


R. to K. Kt. 5th. 


32. 


Q. R. to K. 8th (ch.) 


33. 


K. to Kt. 2nd. 


33. 


K. R. to K. Kt. 2d. 


34. 


K. B. takes P. (ch.) 


34. 


K. to R. sq. 


35. 


P. to K. R. 4th. 


35. 


R. takes R. (ch.) 


36. 


Q. B. takes R. 


36. 


R. to K. sq. 


37. 


K. to B. 3d. 







and Dr. Freeman gives up the contest. Outside of this wonderful 
achievement Mr. Morphy only played two games at Birmingham with 
Mr. J. S. Kipping, Jr., a gentleman whose familiarity with the differ- 
ent Hues of play in the Evans Gambit is surpassed by few or no English 
players. One of the games at the opening in question is here sub- 
joined. 





Morphy. 




Kipping. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. toB. 3d. 


3. 


K. B. to B. 4th. 


3. 


K. B. to B. 4th. 


4. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


4. 


K. B. takes Kt. P. 


5. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. R. 4th. 


6. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


6. 


P. takes P. 


7. 


Castles. 


7. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


8. 


Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


8. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


9. 


P. to K. 5th. 


9. 


P. takes K. P. 


10. 


R. to K. sq. 


10. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


11. 


Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


11. 


Q. to K. B. 4th. 


12. 


Kt. takes K. P. 


12. 


Kt. takes Kt. 


13. 


P. toK. B. 4th. 


13. 


P. takes Q. B. P. (c 


14. 


K. to R. sq. 


14. B. to Q. 5th. 


15. 


Q. Kt. takes P. 


15. 


K, to B. sq. 


16. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


16. 


Kt. takes B. 


17. 


Q. takes Kt. 


17. 


Q. B. to K. 3d. 


18. 


Q. takes K. B. 


18. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


19. 


Kt. to K. 4th. 


19, 


P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


20. 


Kt. to K. Kt. 3d. 


20. 


Q. to Q. B. 4th. 


21. 


Q. takes Q. (ch.) 


21. 


P. takes Q. 


22. 


R. takes B. 


22. 


P. takes B. 


23. 


P. takes P. 


23. 


P. to K. Kt 3d. 



American Chess. 521 



Kippma. 

24. K. to B. 2d. 

25. P. to K. R. 3d. 

26. P. takes P. 

27. K. to B. 3d. 

28. K. to B. 4th. 

29. K. to Kt. 5th. 



MORPHT. 

24. p. to K. R. 4th. 

25. R. to K. 5th. 

26. Kt. to K. 4th. 

27. Kt. takes P. (ch.) . 

28. R. to K. 6th (ch.) 

29. R. to Q. 5th (ch.) 

30. R. to K. 4th (ch.) 

and Mr. Morphy mates in two moves. 

On the twenty-eighth of August Mr. Morphy left Birmingham and 
returned to London. As Mr. Staunton had declared his inability to 
play the proposed match before ISTovember the young hero determined 
to spend the intervening time in Paris, and accordingly departed from 
London on the second of September, reaching the French Capital the 
following day. And now a new scene opens in the life of the man 
whose deeds we chronicle. Behold him in that classic dwelling-place 
of Chess, the Cafe de la Regence^ a locality made memorable by the 
presence of a score of great masters and by remembrances of a thou- 
sand celebrities who have played Chess, discussed philosophy, dreamed 
of military fame, or mused upon political projects within its walls. 
From the days of such pre-revolutionary philosophers as Voltaire and 
Rousseau to the times of such poetical worthies as Musset and M^ry 
numbers of the rulers of the minds and masses of France have resorted 
to this noted Caft for recreation and sociality. And now can we not. 
see them gazing with interest at the advent of this young man who 
was destined to revive the old glories of the place ? Can we not ima- 
gine the shades of Legal and Philidor, of Bernard and Carlier, of Des- 
chapelles and Labourdonnais looking down with delight upon this 
youthful inheritor of their laurels ? Does not the spirit of FrankUn 
rejoice as he watches this representative of America — ^less of a sage, 
perhaps, but infinitely more of a Chess-player than himself — revenging 
the defeats which the tamer of the lightning was compelled to undergo 
in this very same Cafe, de la Regence nearly a century ago ? Nor did 
the past welcome him with greater joy than the present. St. Amant, 
Riviere and the whole crowd of the CafSs living habitues received him 
with open arms. Multitudes gathered to witness his play. Old pupils 
and admirers of Labourdonnais returned to the forsaken paths of 
Chess, to see the glories of their old teacher and idol eclipsed in the 
contests which now took place upon the time-honored battle-field of 
Caissa. Beyond the Chess circles, too, honors were showered, upon 



522 



Incidents in the History of 



the head of the eminent champion. Famous sculptors, Hke Lequesne, 
asked him to sit for his bust in marble ; he received calls from princes 
and was invited to dine with dukes ; he was flattered by poets and 
/nen of genius. And amid all this, Grallic pride, which would else have 
felt sore at his repeated victories, exulted in the fact that Paul Morphy 
was half a Frenchman ; for the language of his fireside has been, from 
his youngest years, that of France. Speaking the tongue with the 
ease and facility of a native, admiring the character of the people and 
familiar with their manners and customs as still preserved in the Creole 
circles of Kew Orleans, Mr. Morphy felt himself at home among the 
French and enjoyed with a keen zest the pleasant society of gay and 
agreeable Paris. The American residents, from the Minister down, 
were of course proud to do honor to one who was so worthily repre- 
senting his country in the Old World ; while every French door was 
thrown open to him with a generous and hearty hospitality. 

On the threshold of La Regence Mr. Morphy encountered as his first 
antagonist, Mr. D. Harrwitz, a native of Prussia and one of the first 
players of Europe. He commenced his Chess career at Breslau, whence 
he went to England, where, during a residence of some years, he edited 
the British Chess Review and engaged in numerous matches. For a 
long time past he had resided in Paris, devoting himself, as usual, en- 
tirely to the practice of the game. The two combatants first engaged 
in a preliminary contest which was lost by the American player. Then 
a match was commenced, from which the following Philidor's Defence 
is selected. 





Morphy. 




Harrwitz. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


3. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


3. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


P. takes P. 


4. 


Q. takes P. 


4. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


5. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


6. 


K B. takes Q. Kt. 


6. 


Q. B. takes K. B. 


7. 


B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


7. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


8. 


B. to K. R. 4th. 


8. 


Kt. to K. R. 3d. 


9. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


9. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


10. 


Castles (K. R.) 


10. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


11. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


11. 


Castles (K. R.) 


12. 


Q. to Q. B. 4th (eh.) 


12. 


K. R. to B. 2d. 


13. 


K. Kt. to Q. 4th. 


13. 


Kt. to K. Kt. 5th. 


14. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


14. Kt. to K. 4th. 



i 



American Chess. 



523 





MORPHY. 




Harrwitz. 


15. 


Q. to K. 2nd. 


15. 


P. to K. Kt. 4th 


16. 


B. to K. Kt. 3d. 


16. 


R. to K. Kt. 2d. 


17. 


Kt. to K. B. 5th. 


17. 


R. to K. Kt. 3d. 


18. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


18. 


P. takes P. 


19. 


R. takes P. 


19. 


K. to R. sq. 


20. 


R. to K. R. 4th, 


20. 


B. to K. B. sq. 


21. 


B. takes Kt. 


21. 


B. P. takes B. 


22. 


R. to K. B. sq. 


22. 


Q. to K. 3d. 


23. 


Kt. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


23. 


Q. to K. Kt. sq. 


24. 


R. to K. B. 2d. 


24. 


P. to Q. R. 3d. 


25. 


Kt. takes B. P. 


25. 


R. to Q. B. sq. 


26. 


Kt. to Q. 5th. 


26. 


B. takes Kt. 


27. 


P. takes B. 


27. 


R. to Q. B. 2d. 


28. 


P. to Q. B. 4th. 


28. 


B. to K. 2d. 


29. 


R. to K. R. 5th. 


29. 


Q. to K. sq. 


30. 


P. to Q. B. 5th. 


30. 


Q. R. takes P. 


31. 


R. takes K. R. P. (ch.) 


31. 


K. takes R. 


32. 


Q. to K. R. 5th (ch.) 


32. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


33. 


Kt. takes B. (ch.) 


33. 


K. to Kt. 2d. 


34. 


Kt. to B. 5th (ch.) 


34. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


35. 


Kt. takes Q. P. 







and Mr. Morphy wins easily. 

The palm in this encounter was to be awarded to the first winner of 
seven games, but after the termination of the eighth encounter, Mr. 
Harrwitz, alleging indisposition, requested a postponement. Mr. 
Morphy had already, at a previous stage, acceded to a similar demand 
on the part of his adversary, and now, by the advice of his friends, 
declined to permit a second violation of the terms of the match. The 
illness of the German player, meanwhile, was not such as to prevent 
him from playing numerous games each day at the Cafe, against other 
and weaker opponents. Upon Mr. Morphy's refusal Mr. Harrwitz 
definitely resigned the match, leaving the score 



Morphy 5. 



Harrwitz 2. 



Drawn 1. 



On the twenty-seventh of September Mr. Morphy repeated the won- 
derful feat which he had before performed at Birmingham and engaged 
simultaneously eight strong amateurs of La Regence^ with his back to 
the boards. His opponents were 



524 



Incidents in the History of 



I. Baucher. 

II. Bierwirth. 

III. Bornemann. 

IV. Guibert 



V. Lequesne. 
YI. Potier. 
VII. Preti. 
YIIL Seguin. 



The combat lasted ten hours, during which Mr. Morphy without 
food or drink retained his seat. The result, Mr. Morphy winning six 
and drawing two games, was announced amid prolonged and reite- 
rated plaudits. The Cafe was Hterally crowded, from the commence- 
ment of the exhibition to its close, with hundreds of French, English, 
and American amateurs. Many of the games were fine specimens of 
play, the best, perhaps, being a PMlidor's Defence^ which was contested 
at the first board. 



Morphy. 




Baucher. 


1. P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


P. toQ. 3d. 


3. P. to Q. 4th. 


3. 


P. takes P. 


4. Q. takes P. 


4. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


5. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


5. 


Q. B. to Q. 2d. 


6. K. B. takes Q. Kt. 


6. 


Q B. takes K. B. 


7. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


7. 


P. to K. B. 3d. 


8. B. to K. R. 4th. 


8. 


Kt. to K. R. 3d. 


9. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


9. 


K. B. to K. 2d. 


10. Castles (K. R.) 


10. 


Castles. 


11. Q. to Q. B. 4th (eh.) 


11. 


K. to R. sq. 


12. K. Kt. to Q. 4th. 


12. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


13. Q. R. to Q. sq. 


13. 


P. to Q. R. 4th. 


14. P. to K. B. 4th. 


14. 


K. R. to B. 2d. 


15. P. to K. B. 5th. 


15. 


K. R. to K. B. sq. 


16. K. Kt. to K. 6th. 


16. 


K. R. to K. Kt. sq. 


17. P. to Q. R. 4th. 


17. 


Kt. to K. Kt. 6th. 


18. Q. to K. 2d. 


18. 


Kt. to K. 4th. 


19. B. toK. Kt. 3d. 


19. 


Q. to Q. B. sq. 


20. B. takes Kt. 


20. 


Q. P. takes B. 


21. K. R. to K. B. 8d. 


21. 


B. to Q. 2d. 


22. K. R. to R. 3d. 


22. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


23. Q. to Q. 2d. 


23. 


K. to R. 2d. 


24. Q. takes Q. B. 


24. 


B. to Q. 3d. 


25. K. R. takes R. P. (ch.) 


25. 


K. takes R. 


26. R. to Q. 3d. 


26. 


K. to R. 4th. 


27. Q. to B. 7th (eh.) 






and Mr. Baucher resigns. 







American Chess. 



5^5 



Among the French amateurs of note whom Mr. Morphy encountered 
were Riviere, Laroche, Journoud and Devinck. The strongest of these 
and at present the leading native amateur of the land of Labourdon- 
nais is Jules Arnous de Riviere. Among the games contested between 
him and the young American was the following elegant specimen of 
the Evans Gambit 





Morphy. 




KlVIBRB. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


P. to K. 4th. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


4. 


K. B. takes Kt. P. 


5. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


5. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


6. 


Castles. 


6. 


P. to Q. 3d. 


7. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


7. 


P. takes P. 


8. 


P. takes P. 


8. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


9. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


9. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


10. 


P. to K. 5th. 


10. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


11. 


P. takes K. Kt. 


11. 


P. takes K. B. 


12. 


P. takes Kt. P. 


12. 


K. R. to Kt. sq. 


13. 


K. R. to K. sq. (ch.) 


13. 


Q. B. to K. 3d, 


14. 


P. to Q. 5tii. 


14. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


15. 


Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


15. 


Q. takes Q. Kt. 


16. 


P. takes B. 


16. 


Q. to Q. 6th. 


17. 


P. takes P. (ch.) 


17. 


K. takes P. 


18. 


K. R. to K. 7th (ch.) 


18. 


K. to Kt. 3d. 


19. 


Q. to K. sq. 


19. 


Q. to Q. 4th. 


20. 


R. to Q. sq. 


20. 


Kt. to Q. 5th. 


21. 


R. takes Kt. 


21. 


B. takes R. 


22. 


Q. to Q. Kt. sq. (ch.) 







and Mr. Riviere resigns. 

But the greatest victory of the chivalrous knight-errant of Chess 
was to come. On the evening of the fourteenth of December Adolph 
Anderssen arrived in Paris for the purpose of playing a match at Chess 
with Mr. Morphy. He had been long regarded as the representative 
of the practical department of Teutonic Chess ; he had won in 1851, 
the victor's wreath in the great international Tournament at London ; 
and had been during several volumes one of the editors of the famous 
Schachzeitung of Berlin. He now resides in his native town of Breslau, 
where he is attached to a G-ymnasium or College as Professor of Mathe- 
matics, giving enough of time to his favorite recreation to enable him 



526 



Incidents in the History of 



to maintain his strength unimpaired. Upon reaching the French capi- 
tal he found his opponent confined to his bed by a severe illness. But, 
excited by the promise of a joust with an adversary so distinguished, 
Mr. Morphy soon sufficiently recovered to commence playing, and on 
the tvi^entieth the match began at his rooms in the Hotel BreteuiL 
The number of games to be won by the victor was seven, the same as 
in the combat with Harrwitz. The three most striking parties are 
here inserted. The Evans Gambit immediately following was the first 
of the match. 



1. 


MOEPHT. 

P. to K. 4th. 


1. 


Andeessen. 
p. to K. 4th. 


2. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


2. 


Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


3. 


K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 


4. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


4. 


B. takes P. 


5. 


P. to Q. B. 3d. 


5. 


B. to Q. R. 4th. 


6. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


6. 


K. P. takes Q. P. 


7. 


Castles. 


7. 


K. Kt. to B. 3d. 


8. 


P. to K. 5th. 


8. 


P. to Q. 4th. 


9. 


K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 


9. 


K. Kt. to K. 5th. 


10. 


P. takes P. 


10. 


Castles. 


11. 


B. takes Kt. 


11. 


P. takes B. 


12. 


Q. to Q. R. 4th. 


12. 


B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 


13. 


Q. takes B. P. 


13. 


Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 


14. 


B. to Q. Kt. 2d. 


14. 


B. takes Kt. . i 


15. 


P. takes B. 


15. 


Kt. to K. Kt. Kth.^ 


16. 


Q. Kt. to Q. 2d. 


16. 


K. R. to K. sq. 


17. 


K. to R. sq. 


17. 


Kt. to K. R. 6th. 


18. 


P. to K. B. 4th. 


18. 


Q. to K. R. 5th. 


19. 


Q. takes Q. P. 


19. 


Kt. takes P. (eh.) 


20. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


20. 


Kt. to Q. 6th. 


21. 


B. to B. 3d. 


21. 


Kt. takes B. P. 


22. 


Q. to K. B. 3d. 


22. 


Kt. to R. 6th (eh.) 


23. 


K. to R. sq. 


23. 


Kt. to K. Kt. 4th. 


24. 


Q, to K. Kt. 2d. 


24. 


Q. R. to Q. sq. 


25. 


R. to K. Kt. sq. 


25. 


P. to K. R. 3d. 


26. 


Q. R. to K. B. sq. 


26. 


Q. to K. R. 6th. 


27. 


Q. to Q. B. 6th. 


27. 


Q. to Q. 2d. 


28. 


Q. to K. Kt. 2d. 


28. 


B. takes Q. P. 


29. 


B. takes B. 


29. 


Q. takes B. 


30. 


Kt. to K. B. 3d. 


30. 


Q. to Q. 4th. 


31. 


P. to K. R. 4th. 


31. 


Kt. to K. 3d. 



American Chess. 



527 



MORPHT. 

32. Q. toK. Kt. 4th. 

33. R. to K. Kt. 2d. 

34. Q. to K. B. 5th. 

35. Q. to K. B. 6th. 

36. Q. to K. B. 5th. 

37. R. takes R. 

38. K. to R. 2d. 

39. R. to K. B. 2d. 

40. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

41. Q. takes P. (ch.) 

42. Kt. to K. 4th. 

43. Kt. takei R. 

44. Kt. to K. Kt. 4th. 

45. K. to Kt. ,3d. 

46. K. to R. 2d. 

47. K. to Kt. 3d. 

48. K. to R. 2d. 

49. P. to K. R. 5th. 

50. Kt. to K. B. 6th. 

51. Q. takes P. (ch.) 

52. Q. to Kt. 6th (ch.). 

53. Q. takes R. P. (ch.) 

54. Q. to Kt. 6th (ch.) 

55. P. to K. R. 6th. 

56. P. to K. R. 7th. 

57. K. to Kt. sq. 

58. P. to R. 8th (Q.) 

59. Q. takes Kt. 

60. K. to B. sq. 

61. Q. to K. B. 5th (ch.) 

62. Q. to Q. B. 8th. 

63. K. to K. sq. 

64. Q. to Q. Kt. 7th (ch.) 

65. Q. to K. B. 7th (ch.) 

66. Q. to K. B. 3d (ch). 

67. Q. to K. B. 6th (ch.) 

68. Q. to Q. Kt. 6th (ch.) 

69. Q. to Q. R. 7th. 

70. K. to K. 2d. 

71. Q. to Q. R. 4th (ch.) 

72. Q. to Kt. 5th (ch.) 



Andebssen. 

32. Q. to Q. B. 3d. 

33. R. to Q. 6th. 

34. K R. to Q. sq. 

35. Q. to Q. 4th. 

36. R. to Q. 8th. 

37. Q. takes R. (ch.) 

38. R. to Q. 6th. 

39. R. to K. 6th. 

40. R. to K. 7th. 

41. K. to R. sq. 

42. R. takes R. (ch.) 

43. Q. to Q. 4th. 

44. Q. takes R. P. (ch.) 

45. Q. to Q. Kt. 6th (ch.) 

46. Q. to Q. B. 7th (ch.) 

47. Q. to Q. B. 6tk (ch.) 

48. Q. to Q. B. 3d. 

49. P. to Q. R. 4th. 

50. P. takes Kt. 

51. K. toKt sq. 

52. K. to B. sq. 

53. K. to K. sq. 

54. K. to Q. 2d. 

55. Q. to Q. 4th. 

56. Q. takes P. (ch.) 

57. Kt. to K. Kt. 4th. 

58. Q. takes Q. 

59. Q. to Q. 5th (ch.) 

60. P. to Q. R. 5th. 

61. K. to Q. B. 3d. 

62. K. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

63. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

64. K. to Q. B. 5th. 

65. K. to Q. B. 6th. 

66. Q. to Q. 6th. 

67. K. to Q. Kt. 6th. 

68. K. to B. 7th. 

69. Q. to Q. B. 6th (ch.) 

70. P. to R. 6th. 

71. K. to Kt. 7th. 

72. Q. to Kt. 6th. 



528 



Incidents in the History of 



and Mr. Morphy resigns, 
was the fifth of the match. 
Morphy. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. takes P. 

3. P. to Q. 4th. 

4. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

5. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

6. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

7. Q. B. to K. 3d. 

8. Q. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

9. P. takes B. 

10. Kt. to Q. 2d. 

11. K. B. to Q. 3d. 

12. Q. to Q. B. 2d. 

13. Castles (K. R.) 

14. Q. R. to K. sq. 

15. P. to K. R 3d. 

16. K. to R. 2d. 

17. R. to K. Kt. sq. 

18. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

19. P. to K. B. 4th. 

20. K. R. to K. Kt. 3d. 

21. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 

22. R. takes B. 

23. K. to K. Kt. 2d. 

24. P. takes P. 

25. P. takes Kt. 

26. P. takes P. 

27. K. to K. B. sq. 

28. Q. to K. B. 2d. 

29. P. takes Kt. 

30. Q. to K. 2d. 

31. B. to K. B. 2d. 

32. Q. R. to Q. sq. 

33. Q. takes R. 

34. Q. to Q. 3d. 

35. R. to K. Kt. 3d. 

36. Q. takes Q. 

37. R. to K. Kt. 6th. 

38. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

39. K. to K. 2d. 



The next game^ a Centre Counter Qamhit^ 



Anderssbn. 

1. p. to Q. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. Kt. takes P. 

4. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 

5. Q. B. to K. B. 4th. 

6. P. to K. 3d. 

7. K. B. to Q. Kt. 5th. 

8. B. takes Kt. (ch.) 

9. B. to K. 5th. 

10. B. to Q. B. 3d. 

11. Q. Kt. to Q, 2d. 

12. P. to K. R. 3d. 

13. Castles. 

14. P. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

15. Q. to Q. B. sq. 

16. K. to R. sq. 

17. R. to K. Kt. sq. 

18. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 

19. Q. to K. B. sq. 

20. Q. R. to Q. sq. 

21. B. takes Kt. 

22. Q. to Q. 3d. 

23. K. Kt. to K. R. 4th. 

24. P. takes P. 

25. P. to Kt. 5th. 

26. R. takes P. (ch.) 

27. P. to K. B. 4th. 

28. Kt. to K. 4th. 

29. Q. takes B. (ch.) 

30. Q. to K. 5th. 

31. Q. to Q. B. 3d. 

32. R. takes R. (ch.) 

33. Q. takes P. (ch.) 

34. Q. takes Q. R. P. 

35. Q. to Q. B. 5th. 

36. R. takes Q. 
87. R. to Q. B. 3d. 

38. P. to Q. R. 4th. 

39. R. takes P. 



American Chess. 



P9 



MOEPHY. 




Anderssen. 


40. R. takes P. 


40. 


R. to Q. B. 7th (ch.) 


41. K. to B. 3d. 


41. 


P. to Q. R. 5th. 


42. R. to K. Kt. 6th. 


42". 


R. to Q. B. 5th. 


43. R. to K. Kt. sq. 


43. 


P. to Q. R. 6th. 


44. P. to K. 6th. 


44. 


P. to Q. R. 7th. 


45. R. to Q. R. sq. 


45. 


R. to K. 5th. 


46. R. takes P. 


46. 


R. takes P. 


47. K. to K. B. 4th. 


47. 


R. to Q. 3d. 


48. K. takes P. 


48. 


R. to Q. 4th (ch.) 


49. K. to Kt. 4th. 


49. 


P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 


50. R. to R. 8th (ch.) 


50. 


K. to R. 2d. 


51. R. to R. 7th. 


51. 


K to Q. 2d. 


52. B. to K. Kt 3d. 


52. 


R. to K. Kt. 2d (ch.) 


53. K. to R. 4th. 







last selection was, in number, the ninth, 
dashing affair among the entire series of 
example of the Sicilian Defence. 
Anderssen. 

1. P. to Q. B. 4th. 

2. P. takes P. 

3. Kt. to Q. B. 3d. 

4. P. to K. 3d. 
P. to Q. 3d. 
P. to K. 4th. 
P. to K. B. 4th. 
P. to K. B. 5th. 

9. P. takes B. 

10. K. to B. 2d. 

11. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 

12. Kt. to Q. 5th. 

13. P. to Q. 4th. 

14. K. to Kt. 3d. 

15. K. takes Kt. 

16. Kt. takes Q. B. P. (ch.) 



and Mr. Morphy wins. The 
and is the shortest and most 
eleven games. It is a pretty 
Morphy. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. P. to Q. 4th. 

3. Kt. to K. B. 3d. 

4. Kt. takes P. 

5. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

6. B. to K. B. 4th. 

7. B. to K. 3d. 

8. Q. Kt. to Q. B. 3d. 

9. Kt. to Q. 5th. 

10. K. Kt. to Q. B. 7th (ch. 

11. Q. to K. B. 3d (ch.) 

12. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

13. Kt. takes Kt. (dis. ch.) 

14. B. takes Q. P. (ch.) 

15. Q. to K. R. 5th (ch.) 

16. P. takes P. 

17. K. to K. 2d. 

and Professor Anderssen yields the game. The whole result of the 
encounter is thus summed up : 

Morphy 7. Anderssen 2. Drawn 2. 

After the termination of this more formal contest which was concluded 
on the twenty-eighth of December, several off-hand skirmishes were 

23 



5. 
6. 

7. 
8. 



530 Incidents in the History of 

fought between the same players, Mr. Morphy winning five and Pro- 
fessor Anderssen one. That the great Prussian was still in the vigor 
of his strength, and preserved the old force and skill before which the 
assembled Chess-players of Europe eight years before had learned to 
tremble, was proved by the result of the games with Harrwitz and 
others at the Cafe de la Regence which took place just previous to the 
match. Mr. Morphy confesses that he met no abler antagonist or 
nobler gentleman in Europe than the Prussian Anderssen. 

Besides those already mentioned, Mr. Morphy played one other 
match of importance in Paris, in which his opponent was Mr. Au- 
gustus Mongredien, the popular and courteous President of the vene- 
rable London Chess-Club. It resulted — 

Morphy 7. Mongredien 0. Drawn 1. 

At length the American was obliged to leave the fascinating city 
where he had passed so many pleasant weeks and won so great re- 
nown. His protracted stay in Europe and the approaching departure 
of his brother-in-law, Mr. Sybrandt (who had lately arrived in Paris), 
compelled him to hasten his departure, and obhged him reluctantly to 
relinquish his long-cherished project of visiting G-ermany. His Pari- 
sian friends entertained him at a farewell banquet on the 4:th of April, 
at which his bust was solemnly crowned with the merited laurel 
wreath, and on the ninth he took a final leave of the great French 
capital. He reached London the next day, and deep was the regret 
expressed by the British amateurs, when he announced that he could 
not prolong this second visit beyond a few days. He again performed 
his bhndfold feat, once in the presence of the London Chess-Club, and 
again in the presence of the St. G-eorge's Club. His adversaries in 
the first instance (April 12th), were — 

L G-reenaway. Y. Medley. 

II. Jones. * VI. Mongredien. 
III. Janssens. YII. Slous. 

lY. Maude. YIII. Walker, 

two of whom resigned, while both parties agreed, owing to the late- 
ness of the hour to call the remaining six games drawn. In the other 
case he contended against — 

I. Cremorne. Y. Worrall. 

II. Kennedy. YI. Cunningham. 

III. Cattley. YII. Thrupp. 

lY. Hay. YIIL Barnes. 



American Chess. 



55' 



Of these Mr. Morphy won six games and drew two. The following 
Evans Ganibit^ with Captain H. A. Kennedy, was one of the contests 
played on the latter occasion. 



MOEPHY. 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. K. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. P. to Q. Kt. 4th. 

5. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

6. Castles. 

7. P. to Q. 4th. 

8. P. takes P. 

9. P. to Q. 5th. 

10. P. to K. 5th. 

11. P. to K. 6th. 

12. P. takes P. 

13. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

14. K. Kt. to Kt. 5th. 

15. Q. B. to K. B. 4th. 

16. K. Kt. toB. Ith. 
11. Q. B. takes Q. Kt. 

18. P. takes K H. (ch.) 

19. Q. B. takes Q. P. 

20. Q. to Q. 2d. 

21. Q. P. to K. sq. 
and Mr. Kennedy resigns. 



KENNEDY, 

1. P. to K. 4th. 

2. Q. Kt. to B. 3d. 

3. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

4. K B. takes Kt. P. 

5. K. B. to Q. B. 4th. 

6. P. to Q. 3d. 
1. P. takes P. 

8. K. B. to Q. Kt. 3d. 

9. Q. Kt. to K. 2d. 

10. Q. Kt. to Kt. 3d. 

11. P. takes P. 

12. K. Kt. to K. 2d. 

13. P. to Q. B. 3d. 

14. Q. Kt. to K. 4th. 

15. P. to K. Kt. 3d. 

16. Castles. 

17. K. R. takes K. Kt. 

18. K. to B. sq. 

19. Q. B. to K. Kt. 5th. 

20. P. to K. Kt. 4th. 



During the last few days of Mr. Morphy's sojourn in England the 
leading Clubs of the metropolis expressed their sense of his high abili- 
ties by pubhc dinners, and the British amateurs of all grades hastened 
to testify, in various ways, their approbation of his conduct and their 
admiration for his skill. From such flattering demonstrations the 
youthful conqueror felt obhged to tear himself away, and accordingly 
left for America by the steamer of the thirtieth of April from Liver- 
pool. He reached New York on the tenth of May and was received 
with enthusiasm, not alone by lovers of the game in which he had 
displayed an unsurpassed proficiency, but by American citizens in 
general, who rejoiced at the triumphs which he had achieved in Eu- 
rope, and who felt a national pride in the eminence which his efforts 
had given to his country in a field of art where the Old World had 
hitherto met with no rivalry. 



5'32 Incidents in the History of 

Physically Paul Morphy is of short stature and slight build. He 
has the dark eye and hair of the South, and betrays in many ways his 
G-allic descent. His eye is soft and expressive, and assumes an expres- 
sion of brilliancy whenever he is examining an interesting position. 
His memory is wonderfully good, and his comprehension quick and 
active. His genial disposition, his unaffected modesty, and his un- 
varying courtesy have endeared him to all his acquaintances. His 
affections are ardent and his generosity unbounded. He is a man of 
large general -information and liberal culture, and is especially well- 
read in French and English literature. The most noteworthy features 
of his Chess character are the strange rapidity of his combinations, his 
masterly knowledge of the openings and ends of games, and the won- 
derful faculty which he possesses of recalhng games played months 
before. While engaged at the board he is quiet, courteous and unde- 
monstrative, and is neither depressed by defeat nor excited by victory. 



XIII.— MISCELLANEA AND ADDENDA. 
• In the works of Thomas Jefferson are several anecdotes of Frank- 



lin. Speaking of the American philosopher's residence at the French 
Capital Jefferson says : " He was, therefore, feavSted and invited to all 
the court parties. At these he sometimes met the old Duchess of 
Bourbon, who, being a Chess player of about his force, they very gene- 
rally played together. Happening once to put her King into prize, 
the Doctor took it. ^ Ah,' says she, ' we do not take Kings so.' ' We 
do in America,' said the Doctor." We are also told that the Emperor 
Joseph the Second was then at Paris, travelling incognito, under the 
title of Count Falkenstein, and used to overlook these games. 

At a meeting of the New Jersey Historical Society at Newark, . 

Grovernor Price related this anecdote: "On the day preceding ihe 
night on which Qeneral Washington had determined to cross the Dela-j 
ware and attack the British in Trenton, an Englishman in the neigh-J 
borhood dispatched his son with a note to General Rahl, to warn Me 
of the approaching danger. The Greneral being deeply absorbed in ; 
game of Chess when the note was presented, without drawing hi^ 
attention from the game, he thoughtlessly put the note in his vesi 
pocket. After the battle next day, when Qeneral Rahl was brought 
in mortally wounded, the note was found unread in his pocket." 



American Chess. 533 

In the notice of Chess in New York mention has been made of 

an EngUsh traveller, Mr. I. Finch. Upon returning to London he pub- 
lished, in 1833, a work under the title of Travels in the United States of 
America and Canada^ in which he relates the following incident, in 
connection with his sojourn in Philadelphia : ^' I had the honor of an 
introduction to a lady, a relative of Dr. Franklin, and had the pleasure 
of playing a game of Chess with the same board and men with which 
he was accustomed to play. His genius seemed still to accompany his 
fair relative ; as, notwithstanding my utmost exertions, I was soon 
defeated. My Pawns were captured — my Knights broke their lances 
— my Bishops were put in prison and I could not release them — my 
Castles were taken and the Yizier dethroned — the King made a gallant 
resistance, and captured several of his opponents, but was finally check- 
mated." 

This same Chess-loving Mr. Finch, when at Monticello, could 

not avoid introducing the subject of his favorite pastime into his con- 
versations with Jefferson. The celebrated ex-president distinctly tells 
him : "I played with Dr. Franklin at Chess, and was equal to him at 
the game." 

In addition to the places mentioned in a former portion of this 

chapter, a few stray particulars have been gleaned concerning Chess in 
other cities. A social Chess circle seems to have existed in Providence 
at a very early day. At West Point the game appears to have been 
practised more or less ever since the estabhshment of the Military 
Academy at that place. But about 1818, Major (now Colonel) Syl- 
vanus Thayer, was appointed Superintendent and Commandant at that 
station, and at his house lovers of the game were wont for some years 
to assemble. Several officers of the army have been, and many still 
are, noted for their Chess skill. Indeed the amusement has ever been 
a favorite one among them, and many a tedious hour has been whiled 
away by means of Chess at our border military stations, in the glades 
of Florida, on the prairies of the West, or by the coast of the Pacific. 

The first instance of the employment of the electro-magnetic 

telegraph for the purposes of Chess-play, occurred in this country in 
1844. In the latter part of that year, certain lovers of Chess in Balti- 
more and Washington — between which places the earliest telegraphic 
line was constructed — arranged a match of seven games, as much for 
the purpose of testing the accuracy of the new mode of communication 
as for their own amusement. The contest commenced JSTovember 16th, 
and was played by means of the numerical notatiou, the Baltimoreans 



534 Incidents in the History of 

using, as we are told, " the white pieces placed on numbers 57, 58, 59, 
60, 61, 62, 63, and 64." The six hundred and eighty-six moves which 
made up the match were transmitted without a single mistake or inter- 
ruption. Two of the games have been published. 

Commencing with the year 1846 several annual tournaments 

took place at the watering-places of Kentucky. The first one was 
held in August, 1846, at Drennon Springs, and the second in August, 
1847, at Blue Lick, near Maysville. They usually lasted for several 
days, and among the players who participated were Dr. B. I. Raphael, 
then a resident of Louisville, Mr, E. A. Dudley of Lexington, Mr. R. 
Beattie and Mr. J. Shaw of St. Louis, and Mr. J. H. Turner. Several 
of the games, resulting from these pleasant festivals, are published in 
Stanley's American Chess Magazine. 

In 1850 a match, which excited considerable interest, was played 

at the city of Washington. The combatants were Mr. Charles H. 
Stanley of New York City, and Mr, J". H. Turner of Mount Sterling, 
Kentucky. The latter gentleman, as is related, imagining that he had 
discovered and thoroughly analyzed an invincible attack in the King's 
Knight's G-ambit, boldly challenged Mr. Stanley, then the recognised 
champion of the country. Mr. Turner supposed that by playing the 
above-mentioned opening whenever he should have the first move, he 
would be certain of scoring at least one-half of the games. Unfortu- 
nately Mr. Stanley, in the very first King's Q-ambit which occurred, 
lighted upon a defensive move which paralyzed the attack, and which 
had escaped the notice of his opponent. Still, Mr. Turner, considering 
the strength and renown of his adversary, came off creditably. The 
match was commenced on February 11th, and came to an end on 
February 14th. It resulted Stanley 11, Turner 5, drawn 1. 

The first American Problems were published in the Spirit of the 

Times. Among the earliest composers were Mr. J. Knous ; Mr. Napo- 
leon Marache, who has published his stratagems both under his own 
name and under the pseudonym of N. 0. K. ; Professor Hyacinth R. 
Agnel of West Point ; Mr. Frederic Leake of the Commercial Bank, 
Troy : Mr. Franklin Bowly of Winchester, Virginia ; and Mr. Denis 
Juhen of New York. This branch of the art of Chess has received 
much notice of late years, and several problem tournays have been held 
in connection with the Ohess Monthly and the various weekly Ches3 
columns of the country. 

In the winter of 1856-7 a regularly organized Chess club was 



i 



i 



American Chess. ^^^ 

instituted at Yale College, furnishing an example which has since been 
followed by a large number of the Universities and higher seminaries 
of learning in the land. The Free Academy of New York maintains 
two rival chess clubs among its students. Matches over the board, by 
correspondence or by telegraph, have frequently occurred of late 
between various colleges situated near each other. 

Several Chess libraries have been collected in this country. We 

have seen that already in the last century, Lewis Eou possessed a num- 
ber of works upon the game. In this century our information is more 
exact. Judge Fisk collected between one and two hundred volumes 
which were sold at his death. Professor Anderson, formerly of Colum- 
bia College, New York, has a Chess library of considerable size, com- 
posed in part of the duplicates belonging to the Bledow collection. 
Professor H. R. Agnel of West Point, Mr. 11. P. Russ and Mr. F. B. 
Wightman of New York, Mr. Eugene B. Cook of Hoboken, and seve- 
ral others within a few years have become interested in this branch of 
bibliomania. But the finest collection in the land, and one of the 
largest and most important in the world, is that of Professor George 
Allen of Philadelphia. It numbers over six hundred volumes, and is 
rapidly increasing. It contains many rare works, and among them 
books from the libraries of Mercier, Schumacher, and Lewis. 

After the sketch of Chess in Boston had been stereotyped, the 

writer ascertained that Maelzel visited Boston, with the Automaton 
Chess Player, in the year 1828, being the second visit to that city, and 
making the visit in the year 1833, the third^ instead of the second, as 
named in the sketch. Of the second visit, in 1828, nothing has been 
loarned from the amateurs of that period who are now living, and the 
newspaper notices of the day were devoted to descriptions and praises 
of the Diorama of the Conflagration of Moscow, then exhibited for the 
first time. It is more than probable that the Automaton sank into com- 
parative insignificance beside the mighty hosts who played the game of 
war and nightly left the Russian Capital in ruins and desolation. These 
exhibitions commenced June 4, 1828, and continued until July 26, at 
which time they were suspended. They were renewed August 25th, 
and, with an interruption of one week, continued until October 3, 1828. 
It is understood that Maelzel disposed of his Diorama while in Boston, to 
a company who gave exhibitions in his name. This is very probable 
as from Sept. 13th, the Automaton was not exhibited and a card 
announces Maelzel's departure, leaving the exhibition to be conducted 
by an agent. 



CHAPTER X. 

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.— ACCOUNTS.— SOLUTIONS.— 
INDEX OF GAMES.— INDEX OF PROBLEMS. 

L LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 

Abbott, J., Philadelphia, Penn $10 00 

Agnel, Professor H. R., West Point, N. Y. . . . 5 00 

Alfaro, Mr., New York City 5 00 

Allen, Professor Gteorge, Philadelphia, Penn. . . . 5 00 

Allison, William S., Hastings, Min 5 00 

Andersen, "Victor, New York City 5 00 

Anderson, C. E., New York City 5 00 

Austin, James T., New York City 5 00 

Ayers, Alfred, Brooklyn, N. Y. 5 00 

Bailey, Thomas, New York City. 5 00 

Bally, E., New York City. . * 5 00 

Barker, John R., Philadelphia, Penn 10 00 

Barnes, Henry W., New York City 5 00 

Baxter, James F. G-., Boston, Mass. ... . 5 00 

Beeman, Samuel, New York City 5 00 

BiNNiE, Mr., New York City 5 00 

BioLLEY H., New York City 5 OC 

Blythe, Thomas H., San Francisco, Cal. . , . . 5 00 

Bready, John, Philadelphia, Penn 5 00 

Broughton, William R., Boston, Mass. . . . . 5 00 

Bronson, James S., Brooklyn, N. Y 5 00 

BuRLEY, A. G-., Chicago, 111 5 00 

Byrne, Oliver, New York City 5 00 

Calman, Emile, New York City 5 00 

Calthrop, S R, Bridgeport, Conn 10 00 



List of Subscribers. 



537 



Carnes, Geo. A., Chicago, 111. 
Carples, B., New York City. 
Chandler, M., New York City. 
Chapman, J., Boston, Mass. . 
Chicago Chess Club. 
Clarke, P. B., Texas. . 
Clement, William H., Philadelphia, Penn. 
Cook, Eugene B., Hoboken, N. J. 
Craig, William P., Tallahassee, Florida. 
Dodge, Egbert J., New York City. 
Droge, J., New York City. . 
Drummond, Thomas, Chicago, 111. 
Dunning, John S., New York City. 
DuTTON, Samuel, Philadelphia, Penn. 
Edge, Frederick M., New York City 
EiDLiTz M., New York City. 
Elkin, Lewis, Philadelphia, Penn. 
Feldner, E., Hoboken, N. J. 
Fiske, Daniel W., New York City 
Franklin, Selim, San Francisco, Cal. 
Frere, Thomas, Brooklyn, N. Y. . 
Fuller, W. J. A., New York City. 
Fulton, H. L., Chicago, 111. . 
Fyrie, Edward, New York City. . 
Gallatin, Albert R., New York City. 
German Chess Club, San Francisco, Cal 
Grotjan, George, San Francisco, Cal. 
Hammond, George, Boston. . 
Haven, S. R., Chicago, 111. 
Ha WES, A. C, M.D., Providence, R. I. 
Heilbuth, S., New York City. 
Hicks, W. E., New York City. 
HiGGiNS, A. F., New York City. 
HiNES, Dauphine S., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
HiNMAN, D. B., Philadelphia. 
Hoard, Samuel, Chicago, 111. 
Hodges, P. H., New York City. 
Horner, William, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Howard, G. H., Boston. 
Howells, Henry Charles, New York City. 

23* 



538 



List of Subscribers. 



HowELLS, Henry E., Jr., Cincinnati, 0. . . . . $5 OC 

Jenkins, Frank W., Brooklyn, K Y 5 00 

Johnson, J. E., Philadelphia 10 00 

JuLiEN, Denis, New York City 15 00 

Kahler, Simon, New York City. 5 00 

Kaiser, C, New York City. 5 00 

Kennicott, Hiram, Chicago, 111 25 00 

Keyes, Frederick J., Boston 5 00 

Kind, William, Brooklyn, N. Y 5 00 

Knott, Hubert, Brooklyn 5 00 

KuTTER, GrEORGE, Ncw York City. 6 00 

La JUS, Dr., Philadelphia 6 00 

Lane, G-eorge W., Chicago, 111 5 00 

Lee, GrEORGE, New York City 5 00 

Lewis, Samuel, M.D., Philadelphia 10 00 

LiCHTENHEiN, Theodore, Ncw York City 15 00 

LoHSE, John F., San Francisco, Cal 5 00 

Loyd, Samuel, Florence, N. J 5 00 

Mantin, M., New York City 5 00 

Marache, Napoleon, New York City 5 00 

Marston, Ward, New York City. 5 00 

Maurian, Charles A., New Orleans. . . . . . 5 00 

Maynard, S. H., New York City 5 00 

McG-EAR, Thomas F., Philadelphia 5 00 

McNuLTY, John, M.D., New York City 5 00 

Mead, Charles D., New York City 25 00 

Meek, Honorable A. B., Mobile, Ala 10 00 

Meyer, Leopold, San Francisco, Cal 5 00 

MiCHiNARD, Francis, New Orleans. . . . . . 20 00 

Miller, William C, New York City 10 00 

Millet A., New York City. 5 00 

Moehle, Adolphe, New York, City 5 00 

Mogridge, Joseph, Sacramento, Cal 5 00 

Montgomery, H. Philips, Philadelphia.. . . . . 10 00 

Montgomery, John C, New York City. . . . . 5 00 

Montgomery, Richard R., Philadelphia. . . . . 10 00 

Momtgomery, William W., Augusta, G-a 15 00 

MoNTHOLON, Marquis de, French Consul-Greneral, N. Y. City. 5 00 

Morgan, James, Chicago, 111. 25 00 

Morphy, Ernest, Quincy, 111 5 00 



List of Subscribers. 539 

MoRPHY, Paul, New Orleans $5 00 

MoRRELL, William H., JSTew York City 10 00 

MoRRiss, E., New York City. 5 00 

Newman, John B., Philadelphia 5 00 

Nichols, F. B., New York City 5 00 

Nichols, J. S., Philadelphia. 5 00 

Ogden, B., New York City 5 00 

Ogden, C. H., New York City 5 00 

Overman, William, Philadelphia. 10 00 

Paine, James W., Brooklyn, N. Y 5 00 

Parry, David, Buckingham Co., Ya 10 00 

Paulsen, Louis, Dubuque, Iowa 7 50 

Pelham, J. C, Brooklyn, N. Y 5 00 

Perrin, Alphonse, New York City 5 00 

Perrin, Frederick, New York City 15 00 

Philip, Jacob, Brooklyn, N. Y 10 00 

PoiNES, Mr., New York City. . . . . . . 5 00 

Pollack, Morris, New York City 5 00 

Pope, John F., San Francisco, Cal 5 00 

Putnam, J. E., New York City 5 00 

Queen, F., New York City. 5 00 

QuiMBY, Edward E., New York City 5 00 

Kandolph, Philip, Philadelphia . 5 00 

Eaphael, B. I., M.D., Louisville, Ky 5 00 

Kees, James, Utica, N. Y 5 00 

Keif, Albin, New York City 10 00 

EoBERTS, Daniel S., Brooklyn, N. Y 10 00 

EuNGE, H., New York City. 5 00 

Schultz, C, H. New York City 5 00 

ScHWENDLER, A., Brooklyn, N. Y. 5 00 

Sharpe, Jacob L., Philadelphia 5 00 

Shaw, John, San Francisco, Cal 5 00 

Smyth, Samuel, Philadelphia 10 00 

Solomons, Moses, New York City 5 00 

Steever, Henry C, St. Paul, Min 5 00 

Stitt, Joseph, New York City. 5 00 

Stone, J. W., M.D., Boston 5 00 

Straznicky, E. Eichard, New York City 5 00 

Strong, P. N., New Orleans 5 00 

Strong, Thomas W., Brooklyn, N. Y 20 00 



540 



List of Subscribers. 



Sweet, J. D. J., New York City. 

Tatum, Daniel 0., New York City. 

Thomas, E. S., New Haven, Conn. 

Thomas, William Gr., Philadelphia. 

Thompson, Alfred, New York City. 

Thompson, James, New York City. 

Thompson, Lucas, New York City. 

TiLLSON, John, New York City. 

Timm, Henry C, Hoboken, N. J. . 

TowNSEND, DwiGHT, New York City. . 

Turner, J. Spencer, Chicago, 111. . 

Waddell, William C. H., New York City. 

Walker, Daniel, New York City. 

Walton,, Eeverend Doctor, Wm. New York City 

Ward, Augustus H., New York City . 

Weller, Edwin J., Boston. . 

Wells, Mr., New York City. 

Wemple, C. Y., New York City. . 

Wheaton, William E., San Francisco, Cal. 

White, S. P., M.D., New York City. . 

Whiting, Honorable J. K., New York City 

Wickham, W. T., Virginia. . 

Wilson, H. L., Chicago, 111. . 

Wood, Honorable Fernando, New York City. 

Woodward James S., Philadelphia. 

WoRTHiNGTON, Henry R., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

YzNAGA, J. Sanchy, Brooklyn, N. Y. . 



$5 00 
5 00 
5 00 

10 00 
5 00 

25 00 



00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 



10 00 



00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 



25 00 
5 00 



The total amount of subscriptions, was eleven hundred and seventy- 
seven dollars and fifty cents. The whole number of subscribers was 
one hundred and seventy-two. 



Accounts. 



541 



II.— ACCOUNT OF Mr. JAMES THOMPSON, TREASUEER. 



RECEIPTS. 

Subscriptions to the Greneral Fund 
From sale of Cards of Admission . 
Entrance Fees. — G-rand Tournament . 
" " Minor Tournament . 



$ 1177,50 

86,00 

160,00 

80,00 

$ 1503,50 





EXPENDITURES. 




zes 


. — Grand Tournament. 


First Prize $ 300,00 


(C 


44 a 


Second ' 


100,00 




it u 


Third ' 


66,67 




il iC 


Fourth ' 


' 33,33 




Minor Tournament. 


First ' 


75,00 




U iC 


Second ' 


50,00 




u u 


Third '' 


25,00 




ti 11 


Fourth ^ 


12,50 




Problem Tournay. 


First ' 


30,00 




a it 


Second ' 


15,00 



$707,50 

Rent of Hall. 384,66 

Printing 107,87 

Advertising 37,88 

Stationery 18,00 

Postage and Sundries 47,59 

Subscribers' Copies to the Book of the Congress . . . 200,00 



Total $1503,50 



542 



III.— SOLUTIONS OF PROBLEMS, 



DEDICATION PROBLEM. 



White. 

1. P. to Kt. 4. 

2. R. to B. 3. 

3. R. to B. 4. 

4. R. Mates. 

3. R. to Q. 3. 

4. Q. Mates. 



2. Q. takes B. P. (ch.) 

3. R to B. 5. 

4. Mates. 



(A.) 



Blaok. 

1. P. to Kt. 3 (A). 

2. P. to K. 5. 

3. Any move. 

If 2. Any other move. 
3. Any move. 



1. Kt. to Kt. 3. 

2. K. takes P. 

3. Any move. 



SET " STRIYE FOR HONOR I" 
No. L 



1. Q. to Kt. 3. 



2. Q. to Kt. 3. 

3. Kt. to Q. B. 3. 

4. Mates. 

3. Kt. to Q. 6 (eh.). 

4. R. Mates. 

3. Q. to Q. 3 (eh.). 

4. Q. Mates. 



2. Q. to K. 5 (ch.). 

3. R. to R. 3. 

4. MatesL 



(A.) 



1. K. to Kt. 4 (A, B, 0, D, E, P, 
G). 

2. K. to R. 4. 

3. Any move. 

If 2. P. takes Q. 
3. K. moves. 

If 2. Kt. to Q. 4. 
3. K. to R 4. 



1. K. to Q. 4. 

2. K. to B. 5. 

3. Any move. 



Solutions. 



543 



White. 

2. R. to Q. sq. (ch.). 

3. Q. to B. 3 (ch.). 

4. Q. to K. 3, Mate. 



(B.) 



Black. 

1. K. takes P. 

2. [K. takes Kt.] 

3. K. moves. 



(C.) 



2. Kt. to Q. 6 (ch.). 

3. Q. to Q. 3 (ch.). 

4. P. Mates. 



2. Q. to B. 3 (ch.). 

3. Q. to B. 6 (ch.). 

4. Q. Mates. 



2. Kt. to Q. 6 (ch.). 

3. R. to Q. sq. (ch.). 

4. Q. to B. 2, Mate. 



2. Kt. to Q. 2 (ch.). 

3. Q. to Q. 3 (ch.). 

4. Kt. Mates. 



(D.) 



(E.) 



(F.) 



1. B. to K. 2. 

2. B. takes Kt. 

3. K. moves. 



1. P. to Kt. 6. 

2. [K. to Q. 4.] 

3. K. takes Kt. 



1. R. takes Kt. 

2. [K. takes P.] 

3. K. to B. 4. 



1. Kt. to Q. Kt. 4. 

2. [K. takes P.] 

3. K. Anywhere. 



2. R. to Q. B. sq. (ch.) 

3. R. to B. 5 (ch.). 

4. Mates. 



(a.) 



1. p. to K. 4. 

2. [K. to Q. 4.] 

3. K. anywhere. 



1. Kt. to B. 6. 

2. Kt. to Q. 5. 

3. Q. takes Q. P. (ch.) 

4. Q. to B. 5, Mate. 



No. II. 



1. P. takes Q. Kt. 

2. [P. takes Kt.] 

3. K. moves. 



944 



Solutions. 



White. 

2. Q. takes Q. P. (ch.) 

3. Q. to B. 5 (ch.). 

4. Kt. to K. 8, Mate. 



2. Kt. to K. 8 (ch.). 

3. Q. takes Kt. 

4. Q. Mates. 

3. Q. to R. 5 (ch.). 

4. Q. Mates. 



1. Kt. to K. 4 (dis. ch.). 

2. B. to Q. 4. 

3. Q. to B. 5 (ch.). 

4. P. Mates. 

3. Kt. to Kt. 5 (ch.). 

4. Q. Mates. 

3. Kt. to B. 6 (ch.). 

4. Q. Mates. 



3. Q. to Q. 6 (ch.). 

4. Q. or Kt. mates accordingly. 

3. Q. to Q. 1 (ch.). 

4. P. or Kt. mates accordingly. 



(A.) 



(B.) 



Black. 

1. Kt. takes Kt. 

2. [K. to K. 4.] 

3. K. to Q. 3. 



1. K. to Q. 3. 

2. K. takes Kt. 

3. Any move. 



If 2. 
3. 



K. to B. 4. 
K. takes Kt. 



No. III. 



(A.) 



2. Kt. to Q. 2 (ch.). 

3. B. to Q. B. 3. 

4. Q. Mates. 



1. K. to Q. 4 (A). 

2. K. takes B. 

3. K. takes Kt. 

If 2. K. toK. 3. 

3. K. to Q. 4, or B. 4. 

If 2. R. to R. 4, or P. to Q. 1, 
3. K. takes B, or to K. 3. 

If 2. R. to Q. B. 8, or R. to K. R 
2. 
3. K. takes Kt. or to B. 5. 

If 2. P. toQ. Kt. 5. 

3. Kt. takes Kt. or to B. 5. 



1. K. to Kt. 6. 

2. [K. to R. 5 or Kt. 5.] 

3. Any move. 



Solutions. 



545 



SET "THREE IS THE CHARM.' 



No. I. 



White. 

1. P. to B. 5. 

2. Kt. to R. 3. 

3. R. to K. 4. 

4. Q. Mates. 

3. Q. takes B. (ch.) 

4. Q. to Q. 3, Mate. 

3. Q. to B. 2 or Kt. sq. 

4. Q. or Kt. mates. 



Black. 

1. [B. takes P.] 

2. P. takes Kt. 

3. Any move. 

If 2. R. takes Kt. 
3. K. to B. 5. 

If 2. P. to B. 5. 

3. Any move. 



No. II. 



1. K. to Q. 3. 

2. Q. to Kt. 1 (ch.). 

3. Kt. takes P. at R. 4. 

4. Kt. or Q. Mates. 

3. Q. to Kt. 6 (ch.). 

4. Q. Mates. 



2. Kt. to K. 3 (ch.). 

3. Kt. to Kt. 6 (ch.). 

4. Q. Mates. 



(A.) 



1. K. takes B. (A, B, 0, D, E.) 

2. Kt. to B. 3. 

3. Any move. 

If 2. K. to B. 4. 

3. EL moves. 



1. Kt. to B. 3. 

2. [K. takes B.] 

3. K. to K. 3. 



2. Q. to K. 4 (ch.). 

3. Kt.*toK. 6(ch.). 

4. B. Mates. 



(B.) 



1. Kt. to K. 2. 

2. [K. to Kt. 4 ] 

3. K. to R. 3. 



2. Q. to K. 4 (ch.). 

3. Kt. takes R. P. (ch.) 

4. Q Mates. 



(0.) 



1. R. to R. 3. 

2. K. to Kt. 4. 

3. K. moves. 



546 



Solutions. 



White. 

2. Q. to K. 4 (ch.). 

3. Kt. to K. 2, or P. to R. 3 (ch.). 

4. Mates. 



(D.) 



(E.) 



Q. takes R or Q. to K. 4 (ch.). 
And mates in two moves. 



No. III. 



1. Q. takes R. R 

2. Q. to R. 2. 

3. R. to Kt. 2. 

4. R. Mates. 

3. R. takes Q. (ch.) 

4. R. takes R. Mate. 

3. Q. takes Kt. P. 

4. Q. or B. Mates. 



Black. 

1. P. takes Kt. 

2. [K. to Kt. 5.] 

3. Any move. 



1. R. to R. 2. 



1. [P. to B. 4.] 

2. P. takes Q. 

3. Any move. 

If 2. R. takes Q. 

3. R. to B. 2. 

If 2. P. to Kt. 1. 

3. Any move. 



SET "CERTUM PETE FINEM." 
No. I. 



1. K. to Kt. 3. 



2. K. to B. 4. 

3. Mates. 



2. Q. takes B. (ch.) 
3 Kt. takes P. Mate. 



2. K. to B. 4. 

3. P. Mates. 



(A.) 



(B.) 



1. Kt. to K. 5 (ch.). R. to B. 
3, or R. to Kt. 8 (ch.). (A, B. 
C.) 

2. Any move. 



1. B. to K. 4 (ch.). 

2. K. takes Q. 



1. B. takes B. (dis. ch.) 

2. B. to K. 6. 



Solutions. 



547 



White. 

2. Q. to Kt. 6 (ch.). 

3. Kt. takes P. Mate. 



(0.) 



Black. 

1. Anything else. 

2. K.toK.4. 



1. Q. takes Kt. (ch.) 

2. K. to Q. sq. 

3. K. takes Q. 

4. E. or Kt. Mates. 



No. II. 



1. Q. takes Q. (ch.) 

2. Q. takes P. (ch.) 

3. Any move. 



(A.) 



2. K. to B. 

3. Kt to Kt. 5 (ch.), 

4. B. to K. 5. Mate. 



(A.) 



1. P. takes Q. 

2. Q. to Kt. 5. 

3. R. takes Kt. 



1. K. takes Kt. 

2. Kt. to B. 2 (ch.). 

3. Q. takes P. (ch.) 

4. P. to K. 4 (ch.). 

5. B. Mates. 



No. III. 



1. P. takes R. (A, B, C, D.) 

2. P. takes Kt. 

3. K. takes Q. 

4. K. to K. 3 or 5. 



2. P. takes P. (ch.) 

3. K. K. to K. B. 2. 

4. Q. R. to K. 2. 

5. Mates. 



(A.) 



R. takes Q. 
[K. takes P.] 
[B. to Kt. 6.] 
Any move. 



(B.) 



2. P. takes P. (ch.) 

3. R. to K. B. 2. 

4. B. to Kt. 4. 

5. Mates. 

3. Q. takes P. (ch.) 

4. Q. to K. 6 (ch.). 

5. Kt. Mates. 



1. B. takes R. 

2. P. takes P. 

3. P. takes R., or B. to R. 3. 

4. Any move. 

If 2. K. to B. 4. 

3. K. to Kt 3. 

4. K. to R. 2. 



548 



White. 



2. P. takes P. (ch.) 

3. Kt. to B. 4 (ch.). 

4. B. to K. 2 (ch ). 

5. R. Mates. 

3. Kt. to B. 2 (ch.). 

4. R. to K. 2 (ch). 

5. B. to B. 2, Mate. 



2. P. Queens. 

3. Q. takes B. 

4. Kt. takes P. (ch.) 

5. R. Mates. 



Solutions. 
(0.) 



(D.) 



Black. 

1. P. Queens. 

2. K. takes P. 

3. [P. takes Kt] 

4. K. to K. 4. 

If 2. P. takes P. 

3. P. takes Kt. 

4. P. takes R. 



1. Kt. to B. 4, 

2. Kt. to K. 3. 

3. [B. takes 2d Q.] 

4. Kt. takes Kt. 



SET "NGN QUO, SED QUOMODO." 



1. R. takes P. (ch.) 

2. R. to Kt. 8 (ch.). 
4. B. takes P. (ch.) 

4. Q. takes P. (ch.) 

5. Q. takes Kt. (ch.) 

6. P. to Q. 1 (ch.). 
^7. Q. Mates. 



No. I. — YiVE LA Dame !" 

1. [K. to B.] 

2. [R. takes R.] 

3. P. takes B. 

4. Q. to Q. 2. 

5. Q. to Q. sq. 

6. K. takes P. 



No. IL— "Tout est Perdu foes L'Honneur.'' 



1. R. to R. 5. 

2. R. to Q. 6. 

3. R. to Q. 4. 

4. P. Mates. 



1. B. to Q. 3. 

2. R. to K. 4. 

3. B. to B. sq. 

4. B. to Kt. 2. 

5. Mates. 



1. K. takes R. 

2. P. to Kt. 3. 

3. P. takes R. 



No. III.— -"The Ambush." 

1. [K. moves.] 

2. K, moves. 

3. K. moves. 

4. K. moves. 



Solutions. 



549 



SET "MiS Sixtltnts ioertt/' 



No. I. 



White. 




Black. 


1. Q. to B. (ch.) 


1. 


K. to K. 4. (A.) 


2. Kt. to Q. 5. 


2. 


P. takes Kt. 


3. R. to K. 6 (ch.). 


3. 


K., B., or P. takes. 


4. Mates accordingly. 








If 2. 


Kt. to Kt. 3. 


3. B. to Q. 6 (ch.). 


3. 


K. takes Kt. 


4. Q. Mates. 








If 2. 


B. to Q. Kt. sq. 


3. Q. to K. B. 4 (ch.). 


3. 


K. takes Kt. 


4. R. Mates. 







(A.) 



2. Q. to K. B. sq. (ch.) 

3. B. to Q. R. 3. 

4. B. Mates. 



1. K. to B. 6. 

2. K. to K. 6. 

3. Any move. 



No. 11. 



1. Q. to K. R. 3. 

2. P. to B. 3. 

3. Kt. to K. 3 (ch.). 

4. P. to B. 4 (ch.). 

5. Q. Mates. 



2. Kt. to K. 3 (ch.). 

3. Q. to B. 5 (ch.) 

4. Q. takes Kt. (ch.) 

5. Mates. 



2. Q. to Q. 6 (ch.). 

3. P. to B. 3 (ch.). 

4. Q. toB. 4(ch.). 

5. Q. takes B. Mate. 



(A.) 



(B.) 



1. B. to Kt. 5, or R. 3. (A, B ) 

2. K. B. moves. 

3. B. takes Kt. 

4. K. to Q. 5. 



1. Kt. to Kt. 4. 

2. [K. to Q. 5.] 

3. Kt. to K. 5. 

4. K. to B. 6. 



1. K. to Q. 5. 

2. [B. to Q. 4.] 

3. [B. takes P.] 

4. B. to K. 5. 



5S' 



Solutions. 

No. III. is defective. 



SET 
^* Bui Washington's a watchword such as ne'e^ 
Shall sink while there's an echo left to air.'''' 



White. 

1. Q. takes Kt. P. 

2. P. to Q. 6. 

3. P. to Q. T. 

4. Mates. 



No. I. 



Black. 

1. [B. takes Q.] 

2. [B. takes Kt] 

3. Any move. 



1. Q. to Q. B. 8. 

2. K. to Kt. 3. 

3. Q. to Q. B. 5 (ch.), 

4. B. Mates. 



No. 11. 



1. B. to Q. *7. (A, B.) 

2. Any move. 

3. P. takes Q. 



2. K. to Kt. 3. 

3. Q. to B. 3 (oh.). 

4. B. Mates. 



(A.) 



1. K. to K. 6 (ch.). 

2. Kt. to Q. 4. 

3. Kt. takes Q. 



2. Q. to Q. 8 (ch.). 

3. Q. to Q. 4 (ch.). 

4. Q. or B. Mates. 



(B.); 



1. p. to Q. Kt. 4. 

2. K. takes P. 

3. Any move. 



No. III. is 



SET " QUOD POTUI PERFECI." 



No. I. 



1.. B. to Kt. n. 

2. Q. to Q. 5 (ch.). 

3. B. to B. 8. Mate. 



1. Any move. 

2. Kt. takes Q. 



White. 

1. B. takes P. (cli ) 

2. Q. to K. R. sq. (ch.) 

3. R. takes R. 

4. R. to Kt. 6 (dis. ch.). 

5. R. to Q. 6 (ch.). 

6. Kt. Mates. 



Solutions. 

No. II. is faulty. 



SS^ 



No. III. 



Black. 
1. P. takes B. 
2 R. to Kt. 7. 

3. [Q. to R. 2 (ch.).] 

4. Q. takes Q. 

5. R. takes R. 



SET "CBDO MAJORI!" 



1. Kt. takes Kt. P. (ch.). 

2. R. takes R. (ch.) 

3. Q. takes P. (ch.) 

4. Kt. to Kt. 6 (ch.). 

5. Kt. to K. 1 (ch ). 

6. Kt. to B. 6 (ch.). 
n, Kt. takes R. (ch ) 

8. Kt. to B. 6 (ch.). 

9. Kt. to K. 1 (ch.). 

10. Kt. to Kt. 6 (ch.). 

11. Kt. takes P. (ch.) 

12. Kt. to Kt. 6 (ch.). 

13. Kt. to K. 1 (ch.). 

14. P. to B. 4 (ch.). 

15. Kt. Mates. 



No. III. 



1. R. takes Kt. 

2. K. takes R. 

3. B. takes Q. 

4. K. to Q. 4. 

5. K. to K. 4. 

6. K. to Q. 4. 
T. K. to K. 4. 

8. K. to Q. 4. 

9. K. to K. 4. 

10. K. to Q. 4. 

11. K. to K. 4. 

12. K. to Q. 4. 

13. K. toK. 4. 

14. Q. takes P. 



1. Kt. takes Kt. P. (ch.) 

2. Kt. to Q. n (ch.). 

3. R. to Kt. 5 (ch.). 

4. Q. to R. 8 (ch.). 

5. R. to K. n (ch.). 

6. Q. to Q. Kt. 8 (ch.). 

7. Q. to Kt. 2 (ch.). 

8. Q. takes B. (ch.) 

9. Pion Coiffe Mates. 



"CURIGSUM." 
1. 



B. takes Kt. 

2. B. takes Kt. 

3. B. to B. 4. 

4. Q. to B. 3. 

5. Kt. to K. 3. 

6. Kt. to Q. 3. 

7. R. to Q. 5. 

8. R. takes B. 



5J^ 



Solutions. 



DEDICATIOlSr PROBLEM. 



White. 

1. B. to K. Kt. 5. 

2. Q. takes R. (ch.) 

3. B. to B. 6 (ch.). 

4. P. to K. 4 (ch.). 

5. B. to Q. 5. Mate. 



2. Q. to B. 7 (ch.). 

3. Q. takes R. (ch.) 

4. Q. to B. (ch.) 

5. B. Mates. 



(A.) 



Black. 

1. R. takes Kt. (A, B, 0, D, F ) 

2. [K. takes Q.] 

3. K. to B. 4. 

4. K. to K. 3. 



1. P. to B. 3, or Q. Kt. 6. 

2. K. takes Kt. 

3. [K. to B. 6.] 

4. K. to K. 5. 



(B.) 



2. K. to Kt. 6. 

3. K. to Kt. 1. 

4. Kt. to Q. B. 3 (ch.). 

5. Q. Mates. 



2. Kt. takes Kt. (ch.) 

3. Q. to Q. 5 (ch.). 

4. Q. takes R. 

5. Mates. 



2. Kt. to K. B. 6 (ch.). 

3. Q. to K. B. 5 (ch.). 

4. Q. to R. 7 (ch.). 

5. B. toR. 6. Mate. 



2. Kt. to Q. B. 3 (ch.). 

3. Q. to Q. 5 (ch.). 

4. Q. to B. 1 (ch ). 

5. Q. takes Kt. Mate. 



(0.) 



(D.) 



(E.) 



1. K. to K. 3. 

2. [Kt. toB. sq. (ch.)] 
3 [K. to Q. 4.] 

4. K. to K, 3, or B. 4. 



1. Kt. to B. 3 (ch.). 

2. [K. to K. 3.] 

3. [K. to B. 4.] 

4. Any move. 



1. B. to Q. Kt. 2. 

2. [K. to K. 3.] 

3. K. to B. 2. 

4. K. to B. 



1. P. to K. Kt. 1, 

2. [K. to K. 3 ] 

3. K. to B. 4. 

4. Kt. toB. 3(ch.). 



Solutions. 



5S^ 



White. 
R. to Q. B. 6. 
Mates. 



No. 28. 



Black. 
1, Any move. 



R. takes B. (ch.) 
Mates. 



No. 24. 



1. Any move. 



1. Kt. toB. 3(dis. ch.). 

2. Q. to K. Kt. 4 (ch.). 

3. B. Mates. 



B. takes Kt. 
Mates. 



B. to K. Kt. 1. 
B. to K. 8. 
Q. Mates. 



Q. takes P. at B. 5. 
B. to Q. 5. 

Mates. 



P. to B. 4. 



Q. takes P. (ch.)- 
B. Mates. 



B. takes B. 
Mates. 



No. 25. 



(A.) 



No. 26. 



No. 27. 



(A.) 



(B.) 



(0.) 



1. R. takes R. (A.) 

2. Kt. takes Q. 



1. Kt. to B. 4 (ch.), 

2. Any move. 



1. [K. to Q. 4.] 

2. K. anywhere. 



1. K. R. takes Q. (A, B, 0, D.) 

2. Any move. 



1. Q. R. takes Q. 

2. Any move. 



1. Kt. to K. 4. 

2. K. takes Q. 



1. Q. to R. 4. 

2. Any move. 



554 



White. 



2 Q. to K. B. 5. 

3 Mates. 



Solutions. 

(D.) 



Black. 

1. Q. toK. Kt. sq. 

2. Any move. 



1. Q. to Q. 2. 

2. Kt. to K. B. 5. 

3. Mates. 



No. 28. 



1. Kt. to K. 2. (A, B, 0, D.) 

2. Any move. 



2. Kt. to Q. 

3. Mates. 



(A.) 



1. B. takes R. P., or P. to Kt. 5. 
3. Any move. 



2. B. checks. 

3. Q. Mates. 



(B.) 



1. B. takes B. P. 

2. K. to K. 4. 



2. B. to Q. 5 (ch.). 
3 Q. to Q. 4. Mates. 



2. B. to B. 5 (ch.). 
3 Q. Mates. 



1. R. to Kt. 3. 

2. Q. takes Kt. 

3. R. to K. 3. Mate. 



2. Q. to Q. 1. 

3. R. to Kt. 4. Mate. 

3. Q. to Q. 3. Mate. 



(0.) 



(D.) 



No. 29. 



(A.) 



1. P. to B. 7, &c. 
3. K. takes P. 



1. Kt. to Kt. 3. 
3. K. takes P. 



1. Kt. to Kt. 5. (A, B, C, D.) 

2. P. moves. 



1. P. to R. 6. 
3. P. to B. 6. 



If 2. Any other move. 



White. 

2. Q. to Kt. 2. 

3. Q. Mates. 



2. Q. to Kt. 5. 

3. Mates. 



2. Q. to Kt. 2 (ch.). 

3. Q. Mates. 



1. Q. to K. Kt. sq. 

2. B. to B. 2. 

3. B. takes Kt. P. 

4. Q. Mates. 



1. R. to Q. 8 (ch.). 

2. Q. to Kt. 8 (ch.). 

3. Q. to K. B. 8 (ch.). 

4. Q. or B. Mates. 



3. B. to R 4 (ch.). 

4. B. takes Q. Mate. 



Solutions. 

(B.) 



S5S 



Black. 

1. Kt. to B. 6. 

2. Any move. 



1. P. to B. 6. 

2. Any move. 



1. Kt. to B. 8. 

2. Any move. 



1. B. or P. moves. 

2. K. or P. moves. 

3. Any move. 



No. 81. 
(first stipulation.) 

1. K. takes R. 

2. K. to K. 3. (A.) 

3. Any move. 



(0.) 



(D.) 



No. 30. 



(A.) 



2. Kt. to B. sq. 

3. Q. interposes. 



Black. 

1. R. takes Kt. (ch.) 

2. R. to R. 6 (ch.) 

3. B. to B. 3 (ch.). 

4. R. Mates. 



3. R. to R. 8 (ch.). 

4. R. Mates. 



(SECOND STIPULATION.) 



(A.) 



White. 

1. [K. to R. 2.] 

2. K to Kt. 2. 

3. K. takes R. 



2. K. takes R. 

3. K. to Kt. 2. 



(A.) 



55(> 



Solutions. 



No. 82. 



White. 

1. Kt. takes B. 

2. R. to K. B. 5. 

3. Kt. takes Q. P. (ch.), or Kt. 
to Q. B. 6, accordingly. 

4. Mates. 



No. 83. 



1. Kt. takes Q. B. P. (dis. ch.) 

2. R. to Q. 4 (ch.). 

3. Kt. to K. 3 (ch.). 

4. P. Mates. 



No. 84. 



1. B. takes K. P. 

2. B. takes B. P. 

3. B. takes Kt. P. 

4. P. Mates. 



1. Kt. takes K. P. (dis. ch.). 

2. Kt. to Q. 5. 

3. Kt. to K. B. 4 (db. ch.). 

4. Kt. to Kt. 6. Mate. 



No. 36. 



Black. 

1. [R. takes Kt.] 

2. [K. takes either R.] 

3. K. moves. 



1. Q. takes Q. 

2. K. takes R. 

3. R. takes Kt. 



1. [P. takes R.] 
3. P. takes P. 
3. P. moves. 



K. to K. 4. 
K. to K. 3. 
K. to K. 4. 



(A.) 



2. B. to K. 6. 

3. P. to Q. 4. 

4. P. Mates. 



(A.) 



1. K. takes P. 

2. P. takes Kt. 

3. P. to K. 1, 



1. R. to Q. 3. 

2. R. at Q. 3 takes B. 

3. P. to Q. 4 (ch.). 

4. B. Mates. 



No. 36. 



1. B. to Q. 3. (A.) 

2. R. takes R. (B. 0.) 

3. K. takes R. 



2. R. takes B. 

3. Kt. to Q. 7 (ch.). 

4. Kt. to Q. B. 5. Mate. 



(A.) 



1. B. takes P. 

2. R. to B. 4, or Q. sq. 

3. K. to K. 5. 

If 2. P. toB. 6. 



Solutions. 



White. 

3. Kt. to R. 5, or Q. 5 (dis. 
ch.). 

4. K to Q. 4. Mate. 

3. R. to Kt. 5 (ch.). 

4. Mates. 



Black. 
3. K. to K. 5. 



If 2. P. to Kt. 6, &c. 
3. R. to B. 4. 



3. P. to Q. 4 (ch.). 

4. R. takes P. Mate. 



(B.) 



2. P. to Kt. 6. 

3. R. takes P. 



3. Kt. to R. 5 (dis, ch.). 

4. R. Mates. 



(C.) 



2. P. to B. 6. 

3. K. to K. 5. 



1. R. to Q. B. 4. 

2. K. takes P. 

3. R. to R. 2. 

4. R. Mates. 



No. 37. 



1. [K. takes R.] 

2. K. to B. 6. 

3. K. moves. 



1. Q. takes Kt. (ch.) 

2. Kt. to Q. 4 (ch.). 

3. R. takes B. (ch.) 

4. Kt. Mates. 



No. 38. 



1. [Q. takes Q.] 

2. [K. to Q. 2.] 

3. K. moves. 



1. Q. to B. 6 (ch.). 

2. Kt. to K. 5. 

3. P. to Kt. 5. 

4. Mates. 



No. 39. 



1. [K. to K. 2.] 

2. [R. to R. 3.] 

3. Any move. 



1. Q. to Q. 8. 

2. Q. takes Kt. 

3. Kt. to K. 5. 

4. Kt. Mates. 



No. 40, 



1. [K. Kt. to B. 3.] 

2. [Kt. takes Q.] 

3. Any move. 



558 



Solutions. 



No. 41. 



Wliite. 

1. Kt. to Q. 4. 

2. Q. takes B. 

3. P. to Q. Kt. 4. 

4. Kt Mates. 



2. P. takes K. 

3. P. to Q. Kt. 4. 

4. Kt. Mates. 



3. P. to K. 4 (ch.) 

4. R. takes P. Mate. 



3. E,. to Q. B. 5 (ch.). 

4. Kt. Mates. 

1. R. to Q. B. 4 (ch.). 

2. Kt. to K. B. 2. 

3. Q. to B. 6 (ch.). 

4. Kt. Mates. 



3. Kt. to B. 5 (ch.). 

4. Q. or B. Mates. 

1. B. to Q. B. 5. 

2. B. to Q. 7. 

3 R. to K. R. 3. 

4. R. to K. B. 3. 

5. R. to B. 5. Mate. 

1. Kt. takes Kt. 

2. Q. takes Kt. 

3. B. takes B. (ch.) 

4. R. to B. 4 (ch.). 
*= B. Mates. 



(A.) 



(B.) 



(0.) 



No. 42. 



(A.) 



No. 43. 



No 44. 



Black. 

1. B. to Q. R. 4. (A.) 

2. R. takes Q. (B, C.) 

3. Any move. 



1. R. takes P. 

2. [B. to Q. R. 4.] 

3. Any move. 



2. Kt. takes Q. 

3. K. takes Kt. 



2. B. to Q. Kt. 5. 

3. B. takes R. 



1. [P. takes R.] 

2. K. takes R. (A.) 

3. K. takes Q. 



2. Q. takes Kt. at B. T. 

3. Any move. 



1. P. to R. 4. 

2. P. to R. 3. 

3. K. to IL. 4. 

4. K. to Q. 4. 



1. P. takes Kt. (A.) 

2. [B. takes Q.]- 

3. K to B 4. 

4. K. to iv. 4. 



Solutions. 



559 



White. 

2. Q. to K. 3 (ch.). 

3. R. takes Kt. 

White mates in 2 moves. 



1. B. to Q. 2 (dis. ch.). 

2. Q. Kt. to K. B. 6 (ch.; 

3. Q. to K. B. 5 (ch.). 

4. R. takes P. (ch.) 

5. K. to K. 4 (dis. ch.). 



1. P. to R 4. 

2. P. takes B. 

3. R. to K. 1. 

4. Kt. to K. 3 (dis. ch.). 

5. Kt. or R. Mates. 



1. R. to Q. 4 ,ch.). 

2. R.toK. Kt. 4 (dis. ch.). 

3. Q. to R. 8 (ch.). 

4. Q. to K. 4 (ch.). 

5. R. Mates. 

4. Q. to Q. 8 (ch.). 

5. Mates. 



(A.) 



No. 45. 



No. 46. 



No. 4:1. 



1. Q. to K. sq. (ch.) 

2. Q. to K. Kt. sq. (ch ) 

3. Q. to Kt. 1 (ch.). 

4. Q. to Q. B. 1 (ch.). 

5. Kt. to Kt. 5. Mate. 



Black. 

1. B. takes B. 

2. [Kt. to B. 5.] 

3. Many moves. 



1. K. to Q. 4. 

2. K. to K. 4. 

3. K. takes Q. 

4. K. takes R. 

5. Kt. to B. 5. Mate. 



1. [B. to B. 3.] 

2. K. takes P. 

3. K. to Kt. 3. 

4. K. anywhere. 



1. K. takes B. 

2. [K. to Q. 4.] 

3. K. to K. 4. 

4. P. takes Q. 



If 3. R. to B. 3. 

4. Any move. 



No. 48. 



1. [K. to Q. 5.] 

2. K. to K. 4. 

3. [K. to Q. 3.] 

4. K. takes Q. 



1. Kt. toB. 6(ch.). 

2. B. to Kt 6 (ch.). 

3. B. to Q 3 (dis. ch). 

4. Q. to K. 5 (ch.). 

5. K takes R 



No. 49. 



1. B. takes Kt. 

2. K. to Kt. 2. 

3. B. to Kt. 4. 

4. Q. to K. B. 3. 

5. Q. takes Q. Mate. 



I 



560 



Solutions. 



No. 50. 



White. 

1. B. takes R. (dis. ch.) 

2. B. to Q. 1 (ch.). 

3. B. to Q. R. 4 (dis. ch.). 

4. Kt. to B. 5 (ch.). 

5. P. to K. 4 (ch.). 

6. B. Mates. 



Black. 

1. K. to K. sq. 

2. K. to K. 2. 

3. K. to K. 3. 

4. K. to B. 4. 

5. K. to Kt. 5. 



No. 61. 



1. Kt. to K. B. 5. 

2. Kt. to Q. 8. 

3. Kt. to K. 6. 

4. Kt. to Q. B. 7. 

5. Kt. to Q. 5. 

6. Kt. Mates. 



1. B. to Q. Kt. 5. (A.) 

2. B. to Q. 3. 

3. B. to K. 2. 

4. B. to Q. B. 4. 

5. B. anywhere. 



2. Kt. to Q. R. 5. 

3. Kt. to Q. Kt. 3. 

4. Kt. to Q. R. sq. 

5. Kt. to Q. B. 3. 

6. Kt. Mates. 



(A.) 



1. B. to K. 2. 

2. B. to Q. B. 4. 

3. B, to Kt. 5, or K. 6. 

4. B. anywhere. 
6. B. anywhere. . 



No. 52. 



1. B. takes K. Kt. P. (dis. ch.) 

2. B. to K. 3 (ch.). 

3. R. to R. 8 (ch.). 

4. B. to Kt. 1 (dis. ch.). 

5. Q. to Q. R. 5. 

6. K. to B. sq. 
•7. K. to Kt. sq. 

8. K. to R. sq. 

9. B. to Kt. sq. 

10. R. to Kt. 8 (ch.). 



1. Kt. to K. Kt. 2. 

2. Kt. to K. sq. 

3, Kt. to K. Kt. 3. 

4, Q. to Q. sq. 



No. 53. 



1. 


K. to R. 2. 


2. 


P. to Kt. 3. 


3. 


B. takes R. 


4. 


K. takes B. 


5. 


P. takes Q. 


6. 


P. to R. 5. 


7. 


P. to R. 6. 


8. 


P. to R. 7. 


9. 


P. Queens. 


10. 


K. takes R. Mate. 


1. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


2. 


K. to R. sq. 


3. 


K. to Kt. sq. 


4. 


K. to R. sq. 



Solutions. 



561 



White. 

5. Q. to Q. R. sq. 

6. Kt. to K. 2. 

7. Kt. to Q. B. sq. 

8. K. R. to B. 8 (ch.). 

9. Q. R. to B. 7 (ch.). 

10. R. to R. 8 (ch.). 

11. B. to R. 4 (ch.). 

12. B. to B. 5 (ch.). 

13. Q. Kt. to Q. 3 (ch.). 

14. Q. to Kt. 2. 

15. K. to B. 2. 

16. R. to Q. R. 1, 
11, R. to Q. R. 6. 

18. K. to B. 3. 

19. B. to K. Kt. 4. 

20. K. to Kt. 3 (dis. ch.), 

21. P. to B. 4 (dis. ch.). 

22. Q. to B. sq. (ch.) 

23. B. to B. 3 (ch.). 

24. Q. to Kt. 5 (ch.). ' 

25. B. to Kt. 4 (ch.). 

26. B. to R. 5 (ch.). 
21. R. to R. 6 (ch.). 

28. Q.to Q. 8 (ch.). 

29. P. to B. 5. 

30. Q. to R. 8 (ch.). 

31. B. to Q. 8 (ch.). 

32. P. Mates. 



Black. 

5. K. to Kt. sq. 

6. K. to R. sq. 

7. K. to Kt. sq. 

8. K. to Kt. 2. 

9. K. to R. 3. 

10. K. to Kt. 4. 

11. K. to Kt. 5. 

12. K. to B. 5. 

13. K. to K. 6. 

14. K. to Q. 1. 

15. K. to Q. 8. 

16. K. to Q. T. 
It. K. to Q. 8. 

18. K. to Q. 1, 

19. K. to Q. 8. 

20. K. to Q. 1, 

21. K. to K. 6. 

22. K. to K. 5. 

23. K. to B. 4. 

24. K. to K. 3. 

25. K. toB. 2. 

26. K. to K. 3. 
21, K. to Q. 2. 

28. K. to B. 3. 

29. K. to Kt. 2. 

30. K. to B. 2. 

31. K. to Q. 2. 



SOLUTION TO FRONTISPIECE. 



1. R. to Q 2 (db. ch.). 

2. Q. to R. 3 (ch.). 

3. B. to Q. R. 2 (ch.). 

4. B. to K. Kt. 8 (dis. ch.). 

5. B. to K. R. 7 (ch.). 

6. Q. to Q. Kt. 3 (ch.). 
•7. Q. to Q. B. 3 (ch.). 
8. R. to Kt. 2 (ch.). 

•9. R. to Kt. 3 (dis. ch.). 

10. R. to R. 3 (ch.). 

11, Q. to Q. 4. 



1. K. to R. 8. 

2. K. to Kt. 8. 

3. K. to R. 8. 

4. K. to Kt. 8. 

5. R. to K. Kt. 3. 

6. K. to B. 8 or R. 8. 
1. K. to Kt. 8. 

8. K. to R. 8. 

9. K. to R, 7. 

10. K. to Kt. 8. 

11. K. to B. 7 or 8. 



562 



2 


Solutions. 




White. 


Black. 


12. 


R. to Q. B. 3 (ch.). 


12. K. toKt. 7or 8 


13. 


Q. to Q. 2. 


13. [K. to R. 8.] 


14. 


R. to Q. R. 3 (ch.). 


14. K. to Kt. 8. 


15. 


R. to K. B. 3. 


15. K. to R. 8. 


16. 


Q. to Q. B. sq. (ch.) 


16. K. to R. 7. 


11. 


Q. to R. 3 (ch.). 


17. K. to Kt. 8. 


18. 


R. to B. 2. 


18. K. to B. 7. 


19. 


P. to K. 4 (dis. ch.). 


19. [K. to Q. 8.] 


20. 


Q. to Q. 3 (ch.). 


20. [K. to K. 8.] 


21. 


Q. to K. 3 (ch.). 


21. K. to Q. 8. 


22. 


Q. to K. 2 (ch.). 


22. K. to B. 8. 


23. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


23. K. to Kt. 8. 


24. 


P. to K. 5. 


24. K. to R. 8. 


25. 


Q. to Q. R. 5 (ch.). 


25. K. to Kt. 8. 


26. 


P. to K. 6. 


26. K. to B. 8. 


27. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


27. K. to Kt. 8. 


28. 


P. to K. 1. 


28. K. to R. 8. 


29. 


Q. to R. 5 (ch.). 


29. K. to Kt. 8. 


30. 


P. to K. 8 (bee. R.). 


30. K. to B. 8. 


31. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


31. K. to Kt. 8. 


32. 


R. to K. 1. 


32. K. to R. 8. 


33. 


Q. to R. 5 (ch.). 


33. K. to Kt. 8. 


84. 


R. to K. Kt. 7. 


34. K. to B. 8. 


35. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


35. K. to Kt. 8. 


36. 


K. to Kt. 8. 


36. K. to R. 8. 


37. 


Q. to R. 5 (ch.). 


37. K. to Kt. 8. 


38. 


K. to B. 8. 


38. K. to B. 8. 


39. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


39. K. to Kt. 8. 


40. 


K. to K. 7. 


40. K. to R. 8. 


41. 


Q. to R. 5 (ch.). 


41. K. to Kt. 8. 


42. 


R. at Kt. 7 to B. 7. 


42. K. to B. 8. 


43. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


43. K. to Kt. 8. 


44. 


R. at B. 7 to B. 6. 


44. K. to R. 8. 


45. 


Q. to R. 5 (ch.). 


45. K. to Kt, 8. 


46. 


K. to K. 6. 


46. K. to B. 8. 


4(1. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


47. K. to Kt. 8. 


48. 


K. to K. 5. 


48. K. to R. 8. 


49. 


Q. to R. 5 (ch.). 


49. K. to Kt. 8. 


50. 


R. at B. 6 to B. 4. 


50. K. to B. 8. 


51. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


51. K. to Kt. 8. 


52. 


R. to K. Kt. 4. 


52. K. to R. 8. 


53. 


Q. to R. 5. (ch.). 


53. K. to Kt. 8. 



Indexes of Games and Problems. 



563 





White. 




Black. 


54. 


K. to B. 4. 


54. 


K. to B. 8. 


55. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


55. 


K. to Kt. 8. 


56. 


K. to Kt. 3. 


56. 


K. to R. 8. 


5t. 


Q. to R. 5 (eh.). 


61. 


K. to Kt. 8. 


58. 


K. to Kt. 2. 


58. 


K. to B. 8. 


59. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


59. 


K. to Kt. 8. 


60. 


K. to R. sq. 


60. 


K. to R. 8. 


61. 


Q. to R. 5 (ch.). 


61. 


K. to Kt. 8. 


62. 


R. to K. R. 2. 


62. 


K. to B. 8. 


63. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


63. 


K. to Kt. 8. 


64. 


Q. to R. 2 (ch.). 


64. 


K. to B. 8. 


65. 


Q. to Q. Kt. 2 (ch.). 


65. 


K. to Q. 8. 


66. 


Q. to Q. B. 2 (ch.). 


66. 


K. to K. 8. 


61. 


Q. to Q. 2 (ch.). 


ei. 


K. to B. 8. 


68. 


R. to Kt. sq. (ch.) 


68. 


R. takes R. 



Mate. 



lY.—INDEX OF aAMES. 



King s Knight's Game. 

Philidor^s Defence. 514 (2), 51T, 522, 524 
Petroff's Defence, 153, 213, 224. 
Centre Counter G-ambit, 191, 263, 26S. 
Scotch Gambit, 151, 161, ITO, ISl, 189,203, 

223, 261, 264, 363. 
Euv Lopez Openinir, 200, 218, 235, 242. 
Giiioco Piano, 147, 150, 161, 163, 179. 
Evans Gambit, 164, 506, 509, 520, 525, 526. 

King's Bishop's Gtame. 
Two Bishops' O'pening, 404, 519. 
King s Knight's Defence, 417. 

King's G-ambit. 

Knight's Gambit, 16S. 
Bishop's Gambit, 157, : 87. 
Gambit Declined, 288, 615. 



Queen's Gambit. 

Gambit Declined, 154, 173, 185, 194, 226. 
Unclassified Games. 
Queen's Bishop's Pawn's Openins:, 167, 

211. 
Queen's Knight's Opening, 280. 
Centre Counter Gambit, 208, 528. 
Sicilian Opening, 148, 158, 159, 171, 177, 

183, 188, 205, 209, 214, 220, 228, 240,*248, 

255, 262, 362, 418, 529. 
French Opening, 169, 174, 187, 192, 195, 

196, 201, 214, 510. 
Fianchetto, 197, 221. 
Irregular Openings, 175. 199, 217, 227. 238, 

246,252,506. 
Pawn and Move, 131, 132 (2), 133, 134 (2). 

510. ^ 



v.— INDEX OF PROBLEMS. 



Two Moves, 299, 300. 

Three " 284, 294, 301, a02, 303, 304, 305. 

Four " 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 2S2, 288. 

285 288 
Five Moves, 286, 239, 291, 298, 319, 320, 321, 

322, 323, 324, 325. 



Six Moves, 295, 826, 327. 

Seven " 287. 

Fifteen" 296. 

Conditional and Suicidal, 297, 828, 829, 



3if77«6 



LIBRARY 




